The British Library in partnership with over 2000 institutions worldwide has announced that it is to make the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) available online and free.

The ESTC is a comprehensive source of printed material from around the world dating from1473 to 1800 with the British Library supplying over half of the content. Containing primarily bibliographic information of books and periodicals it also includes many separate print materials such as adverts within that period,  with extra imagery being added in early 2007.

This is the first time that the public can access the information through a web interface without charge.

In partnership with the University of California, Riverside, the British Library share information daily and are in contact with over a thousand registered contributors around the world to create the database.

While the ESTC is used principally by scholars there are commercial applications.  When a publications value often depends on its availability and scarcity the facility allows users to discover if they own a unique copy of work, which will be useful to book dealers and information professionals.

Furthermore, it is estimated that between 10% to 15% of late 18 century English language books are no longer in existence nor with any accompanying record, Neil Wilson, Project Manager for the ESTC web launch believes that because the public can use the facility to check any old inherited books they may have received, there is the possibility some of the lost works may re-emerge through public interest. Since the digitisation and web implementation process began the sketchy coverage of book location outside of the UK and USA leapt from a handful of printed materials to tens of thousands due to the collaborative efforts of the affiliated institutions, Wilson firmly believes that ESTC can help us reclaim our heritage.

http://estc.bl.uk