ProQuest and Condé Nast Team Up to Bring More Than 100 Years of Vogue Online for the First Time
An agreement between information technology leader ProQuest and publisher Condé Nast will transform the entire run of Vogue’s U.S. edition to an online, digital format, enabling fast and precise searches of even the smallest details on every page – including ads and covers -- of every issue published since 1892. The digital archive will encompass nearly half a million image-rich pages – a treasure chest of the work of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ greatest designers, photographers, stylists and illustrators -- available and searchable online for the first time. The Vogue digital archive will debut on ProQuest’s highly-anticipated new search platform, which includes powerful technology tools designed to support serious research.
"Vogue's history is coming to life online in a way that no magazine has ever accomplished.It's a leap forward not only for serious researchers of the history of fashion and culture, but in the technology of access to image-oriented periodicals of all kinds," said Mary Sauer-Games, Senior Vice President of Market Development at ProQuest. "ProQuest is using its technological expertise in digitization, access and research tools — combined with our experience with periodical databases — to enable this important source of information to be used in countless new ways and blaze a trail for other seminal publications."
"For over a century, Vogue has shaped our visual culture, publishing many of the images now indelibly printed on our minds," said Edward Klaris, Vice-President — Editorial Assets & Rights, Condé Nast. "The world's creative and business communities — designers, artists, photographers, advertising directors — have long referenced the pages of Vogue for leadership, innovation, and inspiration. Condé Nast is thrilled to now be able to offer Vogue's rich history to the public, in this way, with ProQuest, a company whose quality and high standards match our own."
ProQuest is renowned for its ability to create crisp, clean digital images from microfilm and printed pages. However, it's the company's commitment to unlocking information through rich metadata and detailed indexing that propels research, enabling "Eureka!" moments. As part of its unique partnership with Condé Nast, individual images within Vogue will be captured and indexed by specialist editors, allowing users to search by garment type, designer, fabric and countless other search fields instantly. For example, a search of "Dior" in the Vogue archive will return in seconds a complete retrospective on the design house including text and images of its creations from features, photo shoots, illustrations, ads and even individual garments and accessories within larger images, all up to date through the most current issue. Until now, these searches were conducted manually, made even more difficult because archival copies of the magazine are both rare and fragile.
The archive is expected to become a go-to source for all types of research of American culture. For example, researchers in cultural studies and gender studies will be able to explore themes such as body image, gender roles and social tastes from the 1890s to the present. Fashion marketing and business students will be able to research the history of a brand identity by, say, viewing ads for Revlon over the course of years. However, its primary impact will likely be acceleration of research and study of fashion design, photography and history of art and culture.
The Vogue archive will be available to users in early 2011 via libraries around the world and Vogue.com. For more information, visit www.proquest.com.
About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.
More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication — including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.
For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.