Alderman Library's Special Collections Department and the Electronic Text Center received a $500,000 grant to fund the second phase of their Early American Fiction digitalization project Friday.
The project is designed to take advantage of the University's compilation of early American literature.
"I think that U. Va. probably has the best collection of American novels and short stories before 1900 of any school," Deputy University Librarian Kendon Stubbs said.
Phase I of the project is a World Wide Web archive of more than 560 volumes of American prose fiction from 1789 to 1850. After nearly three years, Phase I, also funded by a Mellon grant, is near completion.
Phase II, the next step of the digital archive, plans to create an archive for works published between 1851 and 1875, such as "Moby Dick" and "The Scarlet Letter."
As a result, students and scholars from anywhere in the world with Internet access will be able to view rare first editions of classic American novels.
"We want to see how people can use rare documents on the Web," Stubbs said, "and see if they can be made available at a reasonable cost."
Digital access to every page of a book, including cover letters and end sheets, enable the preservation of these editions because it provides an alternative to visiting the Special Collections department and physically examining the material.
Another advantage of the Early American Fiction digitization project is the creation of teaching guides. These guides would include links to digital biographies, maps, manuscripts and other materials for use in instruction and faculty projects.
The Mellon grant supports two graduate fellows to coordinate that work.
The grant will also support a conference during the summer of 2001 to bring key American literary scholars together to explore the usage of rare book digital texts and archives.
David Seaman, Coordinator of the Electronic Text Center in the library, said that he felt honored by the Mellon Foundation's decision to provide a grant for Phase II.
"It is a prestigious and generous honor," Seaman said, "and we feel very validated by the second grant."
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