The ESTC team is delighted to launch the Beta version of the new English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), the most comprehensive resource available for the output of the printing press in the English-speaking world before 1801. ESTC is now part of the Consortium of European Research Libraries’ (CERL) ecosystem and accessible for free at https://datb.cerl.org/estc/.
ESTC is a bibliography that aims to record every distinct letterpress item produced during the hand-press era in the English-speaking world. It is also a union catalogue that lists copies of those items held by libraries and other owners around the world as well as links to digital reproductions where available. Begun in the late 1970s and with its roots in Pollard and Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640 (STC), ESTC currently contains about 500,000 records and more than 3 million holdings. It is co-managed by the British Library and ESTC North America (ESTC/NA).
For the first time since October 2023, ESTC is fully accessible again. This Beta version provides basic and advanced search facilities with further features, including browsing, facets and an editing interface for contributors, to be deployed later this year.
The British Library and ESTC North America are excited to be able to add the English Short Title Catalogue to CERL’s collection of bibliographical resources which includes, among others, the Heritage of the Printed Book Database (HPB), Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI), the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC) and the Short Title Catalogue Netherlands (STCN).
Commenting on the move of ESTC to CERL, Claudia Fabian, CERL Chair, said:
‘The Consortium is very pleased to add the ESTC to its portfolio of specialised databases for the European printed cultural heritage from its beginnings to the middle of the nineteenth century. The collaboration of member libraries in CERL serves the rare books community and provides space and access to the wealth of records within the various, ever-expanding databases. CERL member libraries work together to continue capitalising on the potential for data linking, data enrichment and shared development that its ecosystem can provide.’
Helen Vincent, Head of Western Heritage Collections at the British Library said:
‘ESTC has been a vital source of information for my own work as a librarian and a researcher for many years. I know how valuable a resource it is and how frustrating the loss of access has been. We are grateful to those who provided temporary access to partial datasets following the cyber-attack on the British Library, and excited to enable full access to the most up-to-date information about bibliographical description and holding institutions, in partnership with CERL and ESTC/NA. We look forward to engaging with stakeholder organisations and individual users as we continue to develop ESTC and to preserve and add to the collective knowledge about our shared printed heritage assembled by so many librarians and scholars over nearly a hundred years.’
Brian Geiger, Director of ESTC/NA noted:
‘ESTC/NA is excited to see the database accessible to researchers again and grateful for all the hard work the team at CERL has put in over the last year and half to make this launch possible. We recognize that there is still work to do on the interface and we welcome and encourage feedback on it from our user community. Our hope is to continue in the coming years to expand and improve the project, in collaboration with the British Library and CERL’.
Thank you for your patience as we have recovered from the cyber-attack on the British Library and have worked to migrate ESTC to its new home. We gratefully acknowledge the helpful cooperation of CERL and the Data Conversion Group (Göttingen) and look forward to working with the international ESTC community to further expand and enhance the English Short Title Catalogue.
The ESTC Team