HathiTrust -- the Librarians' Digital Library

A partnership of major libraries around the world -- and more specifically, dedicated librarians at those libraries -- has committed to preserving and enhancing access to the cultural output held in those libraries through digital preservation. While most of the holdings in the HathiTrust Digital Library are not accessible to the general public because of copyright restrictions, the collection is full-text searchable and can uncover treasures in our own library through this powerful feature.

For example, search "Oberlin College" AND anti-slavery in the full-text search. The first page of results reveals the book

Fettered freedom; civil liberties and the slavery controversy, 1830-1860.

by Nye, Russel Blaine, 1913- ,Published 1949

This book is not viewable, but a quick search of OBIS reveals that we own it. The Oberlin content in that book would be unknown to us without the full-text searching available in HathiTrust.

Enjoy and explore this labor of love. You can read more about this massive collaboration in this interview with two of the major players.