GEMMS
is looking forward to our official launch, taking place on 4 May, 2017 at Dr.
Williams's Library, London, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm.
If you plan to attend, please register by sending a message to lisa.cheetham@dwl.ac.uk
Our database now includes information on almost 500
manuscripts and over 6500 individual sermons. The manuscripts range from
beautiful fair copies of complete sermons to notebooks containing hastily
scrawled notes by auditors. While most were preached in the British Isles, a
few come from North America. All manuscripts included to date are housed in the
UK.
What
comes next?
Following our launch, the database – via our new
website -- will be available to researchers for searching, as we continue to
add new records. Users will be able to search the database for sermons by
specific preachers or on specific texts, as well as by date and preaching
location. It should also be possible to search by sermon type (notes, outlines,
drafts, autograph copies), repository, and genre (e.g. funeral sermons). We
anticipate that in the following months researchers will let us know what
features they find useful and suggest future enhancements and searching
capabilities.
We will also begin developing plans for the next
phase, which will allow other researchers to share and store their own data as
well as to offer corrections and additions to existing records. Our hope is
that this stage of the project will provide opportunities for researchers to
share information and collaborate in new ways across disciplinary and
geographic boundaries.
As we attempt to engage with researchers who will find
our data useful, we encourage them to visit our social media sites and spread
the word via Twitter about our new resource. (@GEMMS_sermons).
