Eight Centuries - Library Tools

Library Tools to Increase Usage & Discovery

Log-in

For library personnel looking to view Usage Statistics and other administrative functions, please log-in to your Paratext Account.

Paratext Accounts provide our customers and library practitioners with more admin control (updating IP, contact, URL info, etc.) and information on all Paratext products and updates.

Eight Centuries Product Updates

The Sanborn Maps "Special Indexes"

The Sanborn maps. Ask any historian of early American history “what’s a Sanborn map?” and you’re likely to receive an earful. The maps, which cover American cities decade-by-decade, chart the rapid change and growth of this country’s urban areas in a way matched by few other primary sources. The digitized versions of Sanborn maps have been used by historians for years. However, there exists a vital... Read All

Recently added to Eight Centuries: Tate Collection Catalog

Paratext is pleased to announce a new source available to your patrons. Now ready to search in Eight Centuries: the Tate Collection. Founded in 1897 and originally named the National Gallery of British Art, the Tate has since grown into a four gallery institution spread across the UK, from London to Liverpool and Cornwall. The Tate Collection in Eight Centuries contains records for the nearly 70,000 objects that comprise the holdings of the museum. Links to the... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: Art Institute of Chicago Catalog

Another recent addition to Eight Centuries is now ready to search by your patrons: the Art Institute of Chicago Catalog. Founded in 1879, the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the premier art institutions in the United States. The catalog searchable in Eight Centuries contains over 120,000 records describing artworks from as far back as the ancient world and as recent as the contemporary period. Links to catalog entries on the Art Institute website are provided... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Another recent addition to Eight Centuries is now ready to search by your patrons: records of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access Collection. Founded in 1870 in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest art museums in the world with a collection stretching over 5,000 years of world art history. The Met OA collection searchable in Eight Centuries comprises over 200 thousand records, containing links to catalog entries, as well as... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: MoMA Collection Data

Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to Eight Centuries: records of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Collection in New York City. Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art is one of the world’s premier collections of art from the modern period and beyond. The MoMA collection in Eight Centuries contains records to artworks dating from the eighteenth century to the present day. The MoMA collection searchable in Eight Centuries comprises... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: Cleveland Museum of Art Collection

Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to Eight Centuries: records of the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. Founded in 1913, the Cleveland Museum of Art remains one of the premier public art institutions in the United States. The CMA’s collection stretches from the ancient British Isles and Egypt to contemporary artists working in the twenty-first century. The CMA collection searchable in Eight Centuries comprises nearly 64 thousand records, containing links to catalog entries... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: Biodiversity Heritage Library

Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to Eight Centuries: the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). A database founded in 2006 and maintained by a consortium of United States and European libraries and academies, the BHL operates as an Open Source resource for the biological research community. The BHL data contained in Eight Centuries comprises over 166 thousand records to biology texts ranging from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Within the Biodiversity Heritage Library, find sources... Read All

Now Available to Search in Eight Centuries: Mapping Early American Elections

Data from the Mapping Early American Elections project is now available to search in Eight Centuries. A project completed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and made available for public use, Mapping Early American Elections (MEAE) is a database of United States election results from 1787 to 1825. The nearly 13 thousand MEAE records in Eight Centuries link to fully mapped election results available on the project’s website... Read All

Two New Sources Now in Eight Centuries: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog & the Samuel Pepys Diary

Paratext is pleased to announce two new sources now available to search in Eight Centuries: the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog and the Samuel Pepys Diary. The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog is a compilation of records describing printed and photographic material housed in the Library of Congress collections. This invaluable catalog contains over 1.4 million records describing material in the collection, including links to full text in many cases. The Samuel... Read All

Transition from 19th Century Masterfile to Eight Centuries is Complete

2022 was a significant year for Eight Centuries from Paratext. We completed our two year transition from “19th Century Masterfile” to Eight Centuries, added nearly 70 million additional records, and implemented vastly improved navigation features to all our products. Now that the Eight Centuries name is in place we suggest: Updating your library’s database A-Z list: replace “19th Century Masterfile” with “Eight Centuries” in your... Read All

The History Widget

The History Widget allows you to provide patrons with easy access to Eight Centuries via a single search box placed anywhere within your site - or even in your LibGuides.

It links effortlessly to our database, and launches our proprietary interface.

Widget Code

Research Guide Descriptions to Add to Your Library Site

Take, use, and remix to fit your library's exact needs.

Longest (63 words):

Eight Centuries is a database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960 (varies by source). 8C aggregates indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids, and includes citations to 9,000 periodicals in 30+ languages. 8C provides access to articles, newspapers, books, U.S. patents, government documents, and images. Links to open access and subscription full-text sources are included where available.

Shorter (44 words):

Eight Centuries is a database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960, aggregating indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids. 8C provides access to articles, newspapers, books, U.S. patents, government documents, and images, with links to full-text where available.

Shortest (25 words):

Eight Centuries is a database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960, aggregating indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids.

Sample Descriptions from Current Customers

“[Eight Centuries] covers scholarly sources from the 12th century to early 20th century. Includes Earl Gregg Swem's Virginia Historical Index; Poole's Index to Periodical Literature; Niles' Register; American Memory; links to images in ArtSTOR; plus many more. Citations to magazine articles, books, newspapers, patents, and US/UK government documents, and images. Coverage: 1106-1930 (varies by source).”

“Nineteenth Century Masterfile is an online compilation of several indexes to periodicals which were originally published prior to 1925 (see partial list of indexes below). Together, these indexes cover most of the English-language journals published during the 19th century. Subject coverage includes: culture and intellectual life, engineering and science, religion, and law.”

Bibliographic Records and API

MARC Records

Many libraries wish to add full MARC records of all the digitized sources in Eight Centuries directly to their library catalogs.

Paratext offers customizable APIs for deployment of Paratext data to a wide variety of applications for libraries already authenticated for access to the native interfaces. We will work with your programming department to export the data in a number of compatible formats.

If you'd like more information, please address any queries to support@paratext.com.