DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The University of North Texas Libraries is working to bring more than 100 out-of-print books back to life. Thanks to a $95,599 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor under the new Humanities Open Book Program, the UNT Libraries will digitize 146 books and make those available for free as e-books.
"UNT is a well-established player in digital libraries and publishing," said Kevin Hawkins, an assistant dean at UNT and lead for the project. "This grant funds work to make resources of interest to scholars and the public more broadly available. Making knowledge more accessible is the core mission of libraries and university presses."
The program, in which the NEH is partnering with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has awarded more than $700,000 to identify great out-of-print works in fields of the humanities and turn those into electronic books that can be downloaded and redistributed according to a Creative Commons license.
Nearly all of the books UNT will digitize are related to the history of Texas and Oklahoma and will give a new generation of scholars, teachers, students and communities access to knowledge no longer in wide circulation.
"These are historic pieces of literature that hold tremendous value for understanding the periods in which they were published," said Hawkins.
Among these titles are:
- "Life and Adventures of Sam Bass, The Notorious Union Pacific and Texas Train Robber" -- Published in 1878, the book provides a "graphic account" of the life and capture of the infamous thief.
- "The Karankawa Indians, The Coast People of Texas." -- With more than 22,000 uses, the book is one of the most popular on the UNT Portal to Texas History.
- "History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and other items of interest." -- Published just before the turn of the 20th century with themes of civil rights and prejudice, this book provides details on the causes of the Spanish-American War, African Americans in the Navy and the acclaimed Buffalo Soldiers.
Once complete, the e-books will be available for download via UNT's Portal to Texas History or the Gateway to Oklahoma History, both of which are run by the UNT Libraries. The UNT Libraries are completing the project in partnership with the UNT Press, the Texas State Historical Association and the Oklahoma Historical Society.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
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