Editing Questia Online Library

{{Short description|Former online research library}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}{{Infobox website
| name = Questia
| logo = Questia logo.svg
| logocaption = 
| screenshot = Questia screenshot.jpeg
| screenshot_size = 300px
| collapsible = Yes
| collapsetext = Full page screenshot
| caption = <!--IS IT NEEDED IF WHEN THE SCREENSHOT IS COLLAPSED?-->
| url = 
| commercial = Yes
| type = Online digital library
| registration = 
| language = [[English language|English]]
| num_users = 
| content_license = 
| owner = [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]]
| author = 
| editor = 
| founded = 1998
| dissolved = December 21, 2020
| country = United States
| headquarters = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]
| alexa = 
| revenue = 
| current_status = Closed
| footnotes = 
}}
'''Questia''' was an online commercial [[digital repository]] of books and articles that had an [[Academia|academic]] orientation,<ref name="NewImproved">{{cite news|title=Questia Unveils New And Improved Website to Help Students Write Better Papers Faster|url=https://news.cengage.com/library-research/questia-unveils-new-and-improved-website-to-help-students-write-better-papers-faster/|work=Equities}}</ref> with a particular emphasis on books and journal articles in the [[humanities]] and [[social sciences]]. All the text in all the Questia books and articles were available to subscribers; the site also included integrated research tools. It was founded in 1998 and ceased operations in December 2020.

==Company history==
Questia, based in Chicago, Illinois, was founded in 1998 and purchased by [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]], part of [[Cengage Learning]], in January 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.gale.com/pressroom/corporate-news/gale-acquires-questia/|title=Gale acquires questia| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426002917/http://blog.gale.com/pressroom/corporate-news/gale-acquires-questia/ |archive-date=April 26, 2010|date=January 28, 2010|access-date=April 24, 2019}} ''Gale''</ref><ref name=QuestiaSchool>{{cite web|title=Questia After more than twenty years, Questia is discontinuing operations as of Monday, December 21, 2020.|url=http://www.questiaschool.com/about-questia-school|publisher=Questia School|access-date=}}</ref>

==Service==
Questia offered some information free of charge, including several [[public domain]] works, publication information, [[Table of content|tables of contents]], the first page of every chapter, [[Boolean logic|Boolean]] searches of the contents of the library, and short bibliographies of available books and articles on some 6,500 topics.

Questia did not sell ownership to books or [[ebook]]s, but rather sold monthly or annual subscriptions that allowed temporary online reading access to all 94000+ books, and 14 million + journal, magazine, and newspaper articles in their collection.  The books were selected by academic librarians as credible, authoritative works in their respective areas. The librarians also compiled about 7000 reference bibliographies on frequently researched topics. The library was strongest in books and journal articles in the social sciences and humanities, with many older historical texts. Original [[journal pagination|pagination]] was maintained. The Questia service also featured tools to automatically create citations and bibliographies, helping writers to properly cite the materials.

A limitation to the Questia library was that new additions were available in a "beta" version only. Unlike Questia's earlier publications, these prevented users from copying text directly from the website, although one page from the publications could be printed free of charge. A charge was made for printing a range of pages.

Questia launched their Q&A blog on September 21, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/questia-the-premier-online-research-paper-writing-tool-launches-qa-blog-130202263.html/|title=Questia, the Premier Online Research Paper Writing Tool, Launches Q&A Blog |location=Chicago|work=Prnewswire|date=September 20, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418225818/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/questia-the-premier-online-research-paper-writing-tool-launches-qa-blog-130202263.html|archive-date=April 18, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Q&A was divided into "Education news", "Student resources" and "Subjects" categories. "Subjects" was further broken down so readers could find specific content based on their academic needs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.questia.com/|title=Q&A – Research paper tips from Questia|publisher=Questia|access-date=|archive-date=July 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729161156/http://blog.questia.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Questia released an iPhone app in 2011, which was extended to the iPad the following year.<ref name=App>{{cite web|title=Making College Students' Lives Easier: Questia Launches Free iPad App to Help Write Research Papers|url=http://news.cengage.com/library-research/making-college-students’-lives-easier-questia-launches-free-ipad-app-to-help-write-research-papers/|publisher=Cengage Learning|access-date=May 12, 2014}}</ref> Then in January 2013 Questia launched tutorials, including videos and quizzes, to teach students the research process.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-52-of-instructors-recommend-starting-a-research-paper-the-day-it-is-assigned-yet-only-17-of-students-report-doing-so-finds-new-questiacom-survey-189208451.html|title=Questia Research Tutorials Help Students Learn the Process and the Skills Necessary to Write a Research Paper by Improving Writing and Researching Proficiency|website=[[PR Newswire]]|date=January 31, 2013|access-date=April 26, 2019}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Questia was criticized in 2005 by librarian Steven J. Bell for referring to itself as an academic library, when it concentrated on the liberal arts and treated users as customers rather than students. Moreover, Bell argued, Questia did not employ academic librarians or faculty. Although some of its employees had advanced library degrees, they did not work or collaborate with faculty to develop collections that served distinctive student populations.<ref>Steven J. Bell, [http://chronicle.com/article/Electronic-Libraries-Cant-Be/5122/ "Electronic libraries can't be academic"] ''[[Chronicle for Higher Education]]'' September 30, 2005 {{closed access}} {{registration required}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of digital library projects]]
* [[List of academic databases and search engines]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/ |website=Questia.com |title=Official Website |access-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622220723/http://www.questia.com/ |url-status=dead }}

{{Cengage}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Questia}}
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1998]]
[[Category:Commercial digital libraries]]
[[Category:Full-text scholarly online databases]]
[[Category:1998 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:American digital libraries]]
[[Category:Defunct websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2020]]
[[Category:2020 disestablishments in Illinois]]