Gale Expands Gale Primary Sources Program with Launch of American Fiction Archive

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., May 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, has released American Fiction, 1774-1920, a new digital archive in its Gale Primary Sources program. The new archive includes more than 17,500 works of fiction, many of which have never before been available online. For students who use only e-resources in their work, this archive opens up thousands of texts for research. Through the novels, short stories, romances, travel accounts and sketches included in the archive, researchers can explore the socioeconomic, political, and religious tenor of America through centuries of radical change.

"One of the things that drew me to Gale was its unparalleled collection of literary content," said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager for Gale. "Scholars delving into American literature will appreciate this suite, as well as researchers across all disciplines looking to answer questions about American history, culture and more. As an English major in college, I wish that I had access to such powerful research tools while working on my thesis."

American Fiction, 1774-1920 encompasses prose fiction from the American Revolution to World War I, and includes works from well-known authors such as Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and James Fenimore Cooper, as well as contributions from more obscure writers. This collection is based on authoritative bibliographies including Lyle H. Wright's American Fiction: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography, widely considered the most comprehensive bibliography of American adult prose fiction of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and Geoffrey D. Smith's American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography, which comprises nearly three-quarters of all adult fiction published in the United States during this time period. American Fiction, coupled with Gale's other literature resources – Literature Criticism Online, Literature Resource Center and the Dictionary of Literary Biography, puts one of the most extensive online, curated compilations of literary content at researchers' fingertips.

As a part of the Gale Primary Sources program, the content within American Fiction, 1774-1920 is fueled by technology which gives researchers the ability to cross-search with other Gale digital archives, as well as analyze results using graphing and search visualization tools. In addition, all works included in the archive are fully-indexed and full-text searchable, and the metadata and data are available to support text and data mining and digital humanities research.

Available for academic and public libraries, American Fiction, 1774-1920 will support research and instruction in U.S history, English, literature and more.

For more information on Gale's American Fiction, 1774-1920, please visit gale.com/afi or Gale's blog here.

For questions or reviewer access, please contact Kristina Massari at [email protected].  

About Cengage Learning and Gale
Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education and K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, has been a global provider of research resources for libraries and businesses for more than 60 years. Gale is passionate about supporting the continued innovation and evolution of libraries by providing the content, tools, and services libraries need to promote information discovery, enable learning, and support economic, cultural, and intellectual growth in their communities. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

Media Contact:
Kristina Massari
Cengage Learning 
(203) 965-8694
[email protected]

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SOURCE Cengage Learning