Looking Back at Eighteenth Century Collections Online—and Introducing Part III
Sponsored by Gale, part of Cengage Group
Recorded on 01/07/2026
Posted in The Authority File
Episode 454
What does it take to bring some of the smallest—and most fragile—volumes of the 18th century into the digital research environment? In this series, Gale acquisitions editor Eleanor Leese discusses the preservation and digitization of rare and understudied materials now available in Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) Part III. Over the next four episodes, we’ll examine how careful handling, specialized imaging techniques, and collaboration with libraries help ensure these delicate works survive to be searched, cited, and studied by scholars around the world.
In the first episode of this series, Eleanor introduces us to ECCO, a digitized collection of thousands of titles published in Great Britain and its territories and colonies during the 18th century. She details the launch of the original collection, charting its development over the past two decades to its latest iteration, Part III. As Eleanor notes, ECCO was last updated in 2009, so Part III contains objects that couldn’t previously be microfilmed due to their unique size, in addition to color imaging and books’ exterior features like the spine and cover. To close, she shares how scholars use ECCO across disciplines and its impact on 18th-century research.
Learn more about ECCO Part III and request trial access for your library.
About the guest:
Eleanor Leese
Acquisitions Editor
Gale Primary Sources
Eleanor Leese is an Acquisitions Editor for Gale Primary Sources, where she develops new archival projects that expand research access to rare and understudied historical materials. Before joining Gale, she worked as a freelance editor supporting trade and academic authors, particularly in history and narrative non-fiction. She brings a background in historical research and editorial development to her work, with a focus on identifying collections that illuminate everyday lived experience and lesser-heard voices in the historical record.
Enjoy the conversation? Listen to the rest of the series:
- Exploring the History, Allure, and Research Impact of Tiny Books
- From Texts to Objects: The Digitization Process of Tiny Books
- Talking Metadata Challenges and Surprising Discoveries in ECCO Part III
Check out our previous series with Gale:
– How Librarians Are Helping to Build the Connected, Global Scholarly Community
Missed an episode? We’ve got you covered:
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Choice Podcast Updates!
Find the episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Music.
Sponsored by:
