I blogged about the first part of the papers going online back in November. Libraries (particularly at universities) might have subscriptions where you can access the content. They still haven’t set up a method for individual subscriptions, but if you think you might be interested in one, please send an email to their contact listed on http://gale.cengage.co.uk/statepapers/
Here is the press release:
Jul 10, 2009
Just to add to the discussion about access to this product . . . I tired to get access all through April and May of this year to no avail. There used to be a contact link for individual access but the rep just kept telling me there was no such thing. I pointed him to his own web site and they had a marketing meeting and pulled that particular link. I agree with Lara that we should continue to pepper the publisher with requests so they understand the market better.
At the time I was affiliated with a quite large UK research university but they did not have the budget for the product.
I also contacted most everyone who provided ‘brag’ quotes for the product’s web site and none of their universities had subscribed/purchased the product yet. The rep also refused to tell me of ANY university that had bought the product making me wonder if they had a single customer.
In June I heard a rumor that Oxford may have bought in. I suspect the pricing – also not publicly available and therefore likely to be negotiable – was misjudged and too high.
I would be interested to hear of anyone who knows anyone who has access to this.
I’ve been able to access it through my university library’s site, although I think it is just because we have full access to all of the Gale/Cengage databases. I don’t know how that sort of thing is handled, so I’m not sure if UT just gets access to everything they have or if they have to specifically pay for new additions. Either way, I’m glad I’ve had access since it has come in handy a few times!
I used the link on their site to email them regarding individual subscriptions. I told them that many scholars and period enthusiasts do not have access to this site and would benefit from the availability of individual subscriptions. Hopefully more people send similar messagesd and they will consider it! I don’t see why not… they should try to bring in as much revenue as possible for such a large product.
OK – Filled with envy now!
Interesting that they wouldn’t tell me that UT had access. Know anyone in the history faculty that would trade temporary access for some seminar presentations? Or? I’m now in Santa Fe so this is not as unrealistic as it may seems at first.
best
Unfortunately I don’t really know anyone over in History very well. I took my Tudor History class from Brian Levack, who at the time was the only one specializing in that era at UT as far as I recall. His main interest is witchcraft though, which was interesting!
If you ever need a few things looked up in the papers, let me know and I can get them (at least the text transcripts, I can’t remember if it is possible to save the images). Our access is tied to our UT electronic ID which we use for EVERYTHING, so we can’t give it out. 🙁
Yep – Filtering on IP address is the preferred access control method and I don’t want to circumnavigate that. It’s as fair as any method for protecting digital properties.
thanks for the offer. I’ll try not to bother you too much and I’m now going over to the UT web site to check out the faculty.