"Substantive academic programs are measured by the quality of intellectual, scholarly content that undergirds them," said Howard Dodson, Chief of the Schomburg Center, a Research Library within the New York Public Library widely considered to be the one of the world's most important collectors, protectors and resources for documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent. "Of course, administrative structures are necessary and trained faculty are essential; but without solid, well-researched, authenticated knowledge on the programs' subject matter, academic programs are doomed to fail."
Black Studies Center is organized around Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, a core collection of studies from the foremost academic experts that summarize the state of research and scholarship on important themes such as African-American Religion, the slave trade and slavery; performing arts and popular culture, and the African-American family. Surrounding the studies is a selection of essential readings, as well as research questions for further exploration. Extensive bibliographies and selected primary research materials are also included, along with a multimedia library and links to related websites. Because it is in a digital, searchable environment, users can explore relationships between themes, people, and events, through scanning rich and diverse content that supports a vast array of disciplines. However, Dodson feels Black Studies Center's most significant contribution is that it offers users a way to understand the evolution of scholarship on the selected themes and to access the essential literature that supports it. "Black Studies Center affirms both the quantity and the quality of the intellectual underpinnings of Black Studies," he said.
Suzanne BeDell, ProQuest vice-president of publishing, added, "Black Studies Center accelerates understanding because it grounds the user in the theme, providing greater context. It gives students and researchers a backbone to work from."
The breadth of coverage of current and historical aspects of Black Studies is dramatic and provides a central point of access to the most sought-after documents that chronicle and analyze the Black experience, few of which have been available digitally before now. It includes more than 150 publications, 30 volumes of contextual material, and a multimedia library with more than 2,000 images and 200 video clips. Among the most important content is The Chicago Defender digital archive, which provides online the full run of America's most influential Black newspaper.
The content is supported by a sophisticated and user-friendly technology, which allows libraries to leverage existing resources through OpenURL linking. Other features include multi-thematic timelines with hyperlinks to content and images, glossary with both mouse-over and extended-view definitions and OpenURL-compliant theme bibliographies.
For more information about or to set up a free trial of Black Studies Center or any ProQuest product visit on the Web at www.il.proquest.com or call 1-800-521-0600.
About The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving, and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The Center's collections first won international acclaim in 1926 when the personal collection of the distinguished Puerto Rican-born Black scholar and bibliophile, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, was added to the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints of the 135th Street Branch of The New York Public Library. Schomburg served as Curator from 1932 until his death in 1938. Renamed in his honor in 1940, the collection grew steadily through the years. In 1972 it was designated as one of The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library and became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Today, the Schomburg Center contains over 10,000,000 items and provides services and programs for constituents from the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.schomburgcenter.org
