“The British Phone Books, 1880-1984 collection is an important addition to Ancestry Library Edition’s records and provides our library customers with unique twentieth-century information which has been very difficult to find up until now,” said Chris Cowan, ProQuest vice president of publishing.
“Since their introduction in 1880, phone books have provided a unique snapshot of communities in Britain in a regular and familiar format, making them an ideal source for both family and social historians,” said David Hay, Head of Heritage, BT Archives. “BT is committed to preserving the history of telecommunications and delighted to be improving access to its heritage through this exciting venture.”
BT Archives’ collection of phone books is the most complete set of British telephone directories in existence and contains in excess of 250 million names, greater than the English, Welsh, and Scottish Census collections combined. The 430 London books alone (which include the counties of Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent and Middlesex) contain more than 72 million names. The first records to be launched are the phone books for Greater London, which reveal many interesting insights into the social history of the past hundred years.
Ancestry Library Edition users can search the British Phone Books, 1880-1984 by name, year, and county, allowing them to fill in many of the gaps in family and house histories left by other traditional genealogy sources. Perhaps more intriguing are the very particular details about the lives of the famous - and the infamous - including the likes of Sir Winston Churchill and Bram Stoker.
“The partnership between Ancestry and BT has resulted in the vital preservation of an important archive for family and social historians alike to use and enjoy. ProQuest is thrilled to be able to extend this content to our library customers,” said Cowan.
The British Phone Books, 1880-1984 represents a major addition to Ancestry Library Edition’s extensive range of sources for family and social history, offering more records than any other website. Its partnership with BT secures Ancestry Library Edition’s position as an innovative and accurate resource for family and social history available to genealogy societies, academic and public libraries.
About ProQuest Information and Learning
ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. It is widely known for its strength in business and economics, general reference, genealogy, humanities, social sciences, and STM content. The company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 9,000 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-HealeyTM electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary® and SIRS® educational resources, and Serials Solutions e-resource access and management solutions. ProQuest® Smart Search was named "Best Specialist Search Product" by the International Information Industry Awards in late 2005. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.
About Ancestry Library Edition –
Ancestry Library Edition is the academic and public library version of Ancestry.com – the No. 1 online source for family history information. Found in over 1,800 libraries in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, Ancestry Library Edition offers many of the great family history records available on Ancestry.com, including every publicly available U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1930, and 24 million WWI draft registration cards, as well as vast collections of birth, marriage, death, immigration and other records. Ancestry Library Edition and Ancestry.com are part of the MyFamily network of websites, which also includes Ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.com.au, Genealogy.com, RootsWeb.com and MyFamily.com.
About BT’s approach to heritage -
BT is committed to giving the public greater access to the nation’s telecommunications heritage, physically and virtually.
BT takes its responsibilities towards protecting its heritage seriously, and is the only UK company to give a firm and clear heritage commitment with a published Heritage Policy. BT’s heritage policy is available at http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/BTgrouparchives/OurHeritagePolicy/policy.htm
The nation’s telecommunications legacy is highlighted and safeguarded through Connected Earth, BT’s innovative heritage project, consisting of a virtual museum on the Internet (www.connected-earth.com), linked to physical displays of its dispersed artifacts collection in leading public museums around the country.
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