Getting started

New to the HathiTrust Research Center? This page breaks down HTRC, its relationship to the HathiTrust Digital Library, and provides brief introductions to the tools and resources available on the HTRC Analytics website.

The HathiTrust Research Center

HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC) enables computational analysis of works in the HathiTrust Digital Library (HTDL) to facilitate non-profit research and educational uses of the collection. HTRC, which is co-located at Indiana University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, engages in research and development for computational text analysis of massive digital libraries. Leveraging data storage and computational infrastructure at Indiana University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Center creates and maintains a suite of tools and services for text-based, data-driven research--such as HTRC Algorithms and Data Capsule--and engages in cutting-edge research on large-scale data analysis.

HTRC operates under a non-consumptive research paradigm: HTRC makes available the collection for computational analysis, while remaining within the bounds of the fair use rights courts have recognized as applying to text analysis. The Center is committed to breaking new ground in the areas of non-consumptive text mining, allowing scholars to fully utilize content of the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Learn more by watching an introductory video!

Relationship to HathiTrust

HathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. The HathiTrust Digital Library (HTDL) is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform that continues to grow as HathiTrust partners, primarily academic libraries in the United States, contribute newly digitized content. Individual access and preservation are important concerns for HathiTrust. It allows users to search for and build collections of digitized works, and to read those in the public domain.

The Research Center’s focus is on the aggregate strengths: what can we learn from so many books? Digitization has enabled large-scale questions that we couldn’t ask before, and the Research Center is here to help you ask them while working within the restrictions of intellectual property law.

Quick links

HTRC Analytics - gateway to HTRC tools

HTRC, Help! - get help and request assistance

HathiTrust - HTRC's parent organization

Introductory video

Find all tutorials

Research examples

/wiki/spaces/INT/pages/43418831

Research Examples and Use Cases

Extracted Features in the Wild

HTRC Services

Many of the HTRC services require an account to log in and interact with the tools via the HTRC Analytics website. Register for an account by going to the main page of the HTRC Analytics. Anyone possessing an email address from a nonprofit institution of higher education is allowed to register, including those whose institutions are not HathiTrust members.

Tools & Data

HTRC Analytics

The primary gateway to HTRC!

HTRC Algorithms

Web-based, click-and-run tools in HTRC Analytics that perform computational text analysis on worksets, which are user-created collections of volumes. No programming required.

HTRC Data Capsules

Secure virtual environments in HTRC Analytics for non-consumptive text analysis, where researchers can implement their own data analysis and visualization tools.

HTRC Extracted Features

An unrestricted dataset of metadata and word counts for each page in the HathiTrust Digital Library. Download and explore on your own machine.

HathiTrust+Bookworm

Create a line graph showing word use trends in 13.7 million HathiTrust volumes.

Research & Teaching Support

Advanced Collaborative Support: Assisting on specialized questions

Program that offers specialized expertise, developer time, and compute resources to researchers who apply for and are awarded support.

HTRC, Help!

Researcher support via email, through monthly office hours, and anonymized frequently asked questions about HTRC.

Training researchers and librarians

HTRC provides training and researcher support for those teaching with and using HTRC. Affiliates of the Scholarly Commons are available for workshops and webinars, and they will also consult about specific scholarly projects or pedagogical applications.