UBC Library has acquired twenty-eight series from the 2021 ebook frontlist collection published by Classiques Garnier, which feature select digital editions of French and Francophone literature, to ensure that UBC faculty, staff and students have seamless access to key French scholarly materials.
The purchased series encompass nearly 200 titles across several centuries of French literature from the middle ages up to the 20th century, with new titles becoming available to library users as they are published throughout the year. UBC Library also has access to Classiques Garnier databases such as l’Encyclopédie d’Yverdon (Yverdon Encyclopedia), le Corpus Pierre Bayle (the Pierre Bayle Corpus dictionary) and la Bibliographie de la littérature française (the Bibliography of French Literature).
Purchasing this collection was not only essential after the transition to remote researching, teaching and learning at UBC due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, but also marked the first time the library has collected a French literature ebook package. Previously the demand for electronic materials in the humanities has generally been low, as the preference for print was always the standard.
“Faculty were relying on a lot of the print Classiques Garnier publications for their literature classes. So it was important to have material coming in to support their courses,” says Susan Paterson, Reference Librarian at Koerner Library who specializes in French language and literature, government information, and social work. “I think it has really switched.” Paterson notes that faculty are now enjoying the opportunity to explore the features available through the digital editions.
Dr. Nancy Frelick, Associate Professor of French at UBC’s Department of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, says: “I make use of Classiques Garnier publications all the time. Their ebooks have become even more essential since the start of the pandemic, both in terms of research and also for teaching, as students and scholars need continued access to materials, even though on-campus library access has been limited and our courses have gone online.”
The purchasing and cataloguing process for this collection has involved librarians and staff from across the library to develop brand new workflows and to navigate the complex educational licensing requirements set out by European publishers for Canadian academic institutions.
“It’s been a long process,” says Paterson, who says that the library had been proactive in starting this process back in April 2020, when it became clear that the gap created by the temporary halt in French literature print materials would adversely impact library users. “We’ve really tried to help them in their scholarship and research.”
Explore the collection through the library catalogue or through the Index and Database page.
This project is part of UBC Library’s strategic direction to create and deliver responsive collections.
Learn more about our Strategic Framework.