Parker

Parker Library on the Web

Frequently Asked Questions about the Parker Library on the Web:

What is the Parker Library on the Web?

The Parker Library on the Web is a web-based workspace for the study of manuscripts in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The product has been jointly developed by Corpus Christi College, the Stanford University Libraries and Cambridge University Library. The content is hosted by Stanford University and consists of ca. 200,000 manuscript page images, page images of secondary sources, manuscript descriptions, and extensive bibliographic data. Bibliographic records are linked with full text files wherever possible. The software enables users to explore, sort, and navigate the content. The software consists of searching, browsing and display services.

Who was Matthew Parker?

Matthew Parker (1505-1575) was a powerful figure of the English Reformation. He was largely responsible for the implementation of the Church of England as a national institution. He was also Master of Corpus Christi College from1544 to 1553, and Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I. He left his priceless collection of manuscripts, largely assembled from former monastic libraries, to his college. For further information please click on the “About”-button on the Parker on the Web homepage.

What makes the Parker manuscripts so important for academic research?

Parker’s collection of manuscripts, assembled a generation before the collections created by Sir Thomas Bodley and Sir Robert Cotton that became, respectively, the foundations of the Bodleian in Oxford and the British Library in London, was simultaneously the work of a powerful cleric and a passionate book collector. Parker believed that the earliest manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon England, gathered from cathedrals and despoiled monasteries, contained the intellectual justification for an independent, English-speaking church. About 15% of the collection consists of manuscripts written before 1066. The Parker Library includes many of the very great monuments of Old and Middle English, the primary copy of the Ancrene Wisse, and the finest Chaucer in England. It also holds some of the oldest manuscripts of English music, lavishly illustrated travelogues, famously illuminated Bibles, bestiaries and other treasures. Over several centuries, scholars have mined the collections to generate seminal scholarship in a huge range of disciplines.

For which academic disciplines might the Parker manuscripts be of interest?

Parker was interested in many subjects, including theology, history, travel, alchemy and politics. The collection has been widely used by scholars working in a variety of disciplines including medieval history, art, music, history of science, literature, politics and religion.

Is the Parker Library on the Web a finite product or will additional content be provided over time?

The core content of the site – almost 200,000 manuscript page images – will persist more or less without change from the time of the site’s release in October 2009 for the life of the product. Corpus and Stanford, however, plan to produce and release site updates twice each year, beginning in the spring of 2010. They will add new information, correct errors, replace any page images that turn out to be defective, maintain the currency of the bibliographic information, digitize additional secondary sources, and link bibliographic citations to newly digitized full text. As third parties create electronic editions of Parker manuscripts, these will be linked to, or incorporated within, Parker on the Web. New functionality may be added to the search, browse, and display services software. The entire application will also be forward-migrated so that it can take advantage of improvements in underlying technology.

Parker on the Web BETA has been available since October 2007. What will change on 1 October 2009, when the active phase of the project ends?

Parker on the Web BETA, first released in 2007, has been improved several times since, as new features have been implemented and additional manuscripts have been added. The current version of BETA is 0.8, which contains manuscript page images and descriptive metadata for approximately 135 manuscripts. When the active phase of the project ends in September 2009, all major targets of the four-year project will have been met. All of the Parker manuscripts will have been digitized, powerful and searchable metadata based on M. R. James’ respected catalog will have been created, and bibliography will exist for all major scholarship about the manuscripts. This work has been generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional grants from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

On October 1, 2009, Version 0.8 will be replaced with the site's first production version, called 1.0. This will make all Parker manuscripts, metadata and related bibliography available for the first time. 1.0 will exist in two views. The first of these (the “complete edition”) will be available via an institutional license, which may be purchased as a combination of one-time and annual maintenance fees. The second will be free to all. The free edition should be sufficient for many general uses, but the complete edition has been tailored to meet the needs of research and related instruction.

If there is a free version why should I buy the database?

Although the free, basic version of Parker on the Web will be sufficient for many casual uses, including the examination of manuscript page images at relatively low magnification and browse access to manuscript descriptions, most serious research is likely to benefit from the sophisticated features and special content available only by license. State of the art image viewing, including zoom, pan and rotate capabilities are restricted to licensees. In addition, only licensed users will be able to search the manuscript metadata, to access the bibliographic information, and to follow links from bibliographic citations to full text of secondary sources whenever these will be made available.

Who issues the license and who is the distributor of Parker Library on the Web?

Stanford University acts on behalf of itself and Corpus Christi College as the licensor. Stanford and Corpus have designated the library service agency OTTO HARRASSOWITZ GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden, Germany, to act as sole distributor and as contact to interested library customers worldwide. Libraries interested in further information on Parker Library on the Web or in establishing purchase or subscription orders are invited to contact service@harrassowitz.de.

HARRASSOWITZ cooperates with the company of Casalini Libri (info@casalini.it) for the distribution of Parker Library on the Web to libraries in Italy and China, two markets to which Casalini Libri enjoys particularly close contacts.

When can I sign up for the Parker Library on the Web?

Licenses for Parker Library on the Web can be acquired through HARRASSOWITZ at any time, but licenses purchased before October 1, 2009 will not become active until then.

What is the pricing arrangement?

The Parker Library on the Web has three pricing options:

1. The List Purchase Price: USD 9,500. It is a one-time license fee and includes the right to use the data in perpetuity. It applies to one institution operating on one site. Beginning one year after purchase, licensees are also charged an annual maintenance fee USD 480. Acess is controlled through IP addresses.

2. The Annual Subscription: USD 3,500. This option allows access for one year, to be renewed every year at the same price. This option is meant for institutions that might have a project relating to the manuscripts of Parker for only a limited duration of one or two years. If the Parker on the Web is needed for a longer period of time, then purchase is the recommended option.

3. Discounts: Discounts are granted to consortia, clusters of associations, research institutions or universities according to the numbers of institutions or entities in the group:

20 % discount on the purchase price and the annual maintenance fee for 10-19 institutions or sites
35 % discount on the purchase price and the annual maintenance fee for 20-39 institutions or sites
50 % discount on the purchase price and the annual maintenance fee for 40 or more institutions or sites

VAT or GTS will be billed as applicable. For European Union countries the VAT for electronic products of 19% will be added to the price unless the institution or library has opted for the tax category of an entrepreneur status for itself.

What is the basis for the “purchase price” and “maintenance fee” charged for access to the complete edition?

The purpose of these fees is to generate enough revenue to secure both the long-term future of the website and its underlying data and meet the future development costs of the site. To this end, the purchase and subscription fees are intended to provide sufficient annual income to cover the ongoing cost of archival storage, application maintenance, and forward migration as underlying technology changes. The maintenance fees are to cover the cost of an editorial and update team that will continue to enhance the website, encourage contributions from the scholarly community worldwide, collect corrections, new bibliography and other critical comment, scan secondary materials not otherwise available, and establish links to secondary scholarship available on other sites.

Corpus Christi College and Stanford University hope that revenue will be sufficient to cover the cost of collecting, editing, and promulgating two updates each year beginning in the Spring of 2010. Although foundation grants have covered most costs that Corpus Christi, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge have incurred in creating the images, the metadata and the website, such support was contingent on the development and execution of a business plan to secure support from users to offset the substantial expense of ongoing operations.

How does the licensing process work?

Beginning October 1, 2009 access to the full-function site will be limited to authorized users or licensees. By that time, each customer interested in the full version of Parker Library on the Web will need to sign a standard license with Stanford University. An electronic copy of the license will be made available by HARRASSOWITZ to the customer. The customer produces two print copies and will return them with the appropriate signature to HARRASSOWITZ. HARRASSOWITZ will collect Stanford's signatures and pass one copy back to the customer. After the signed licenses have been exchanged and the payment has been received at HARRASSOWITZ, access will be established immediately.

What information is needed to obtain access to the database quickly?

In order to speed up the provision of access, the following information should be passed on to HARRASSOWITZ together with the order:

- Name of institution

- Name and email of contact person

- IP range of institution

- Billing address

If I am an independent researcher and not associated with a library or related institutions, can I still buy the database?

Although individuals may purchase licenses to use the full-function version of Parker on the Web on generally the same terms as institutions, the price of such licenses has been set with institutions in mind, and will not usually be attractive to individuals. If pricing designed for individuals is implemented in the future, information on such pricing will be available from the distributor.

Who should be contacted with possible problems of access, renewal, payment or content?

Concerning issues of access, payment, renewal, and content please contact HARRASSOWITZ at service@harrassowitz.de.

Who should be contacted in regard to technical issues, visual problems and the like?

Should there be operational problems with the site, users are asked to use the “Contact Us” feature on the site’s homepage if possible. If the site is entirely inaccessible, users should contact service@harrassowitz.de.

What happens if a licensee decides, at some point in the future, not to pay the annual maintenance fee? Will it continue to enjoy access to the licensed content?

The license fee is a one-time fee and conveys the right to use the data in perpetuity. The annual maintenance fee, charged annually after the first year, conveys access to the Stanford-maintained site. After the first year, any licensee may elect to receive a copy of the database content for local use. This election may be in addition to or in lieu of access to the Stanford-maintained site. When the annual maintenance fee is not paid, however, the licensee will be able to access the database content only if it takes delivery of a local copy. The local copy will not involve another payment and reflect the content current on September 30, 2010, or at the end of the last year for which the licensee paid the maintenance fee. Licensees electing to receive a copy for local use should be aware that the furnished copy will consist of images in jpeg format plus manuscript metadata and bibliography in xml format, only.