Alert Janeite Eileen wrote to tell us that Jane Austen is one of only four women listed in the top 100 of the WorldCat Identities project. Eileen commented,

And the four represent an interesting cross section of our gender!

Jane Austen
Agatha Christie
Mary, Blessed Virgin
Virginia Woolf

That’s an interesting combination of women, all right!

We asked Eileen for more information about the project, and she told us:

This is a project that is experimenting with ways to improve how library catalogs work. It uses the OCLC WorldCat database, which is the largest database of library holdings in the world. You can search on an author, composer or even a fictional character and the results returned are organized in a more intuitive manner than most library catalogs. . .It’s still experimental and clearly has some work to do (it classes The Jane Austen Book Club as a work about Jane Austen). But let’s say you’re just getting into Jane. Clicking on her identity leads you to a list of books she wrote, as well as books about her, cross references and related subjects. All in one place.

Eileen also sent a link to the aggregate data for Jane Austen so far on the project. This is an amazing project, and will be incredibly useful (and obsession-generating) to those of us who can never get enough information on our favorite subjects. Eileen also sent a link about the project that explains it pretty succinctly:

The idea of WorldCat Identities is simple: create a summary page for every name in WorldCat.

One of our favorite aphorisms is: Librarians Rock! Because you do.

The Guardian reports that the BBC Costume Shop, which has provided costumes and wigs for many productions, including P&P95 and probably other JA adaptations, has ceased trading after a buyout bid fell through.

Last autumn the corporation announced that BBC Costumes and Wigs would be sold off as part of a wider disposal of assets, including BBC Resources.

But it is being sold separately from the rest of BBC Resources, the corporation’s commercial subsidiary responsible for studios, post-production and outside broadcasts.

A BBC spokeswoman said she could not comment on who had been planning to buy BBC Costumes and Wigs.

“BBC Resources had intended to sell the collection as quickly as possible and to make it available over the transfer period in order to cause as little disruption to its customers as possible,” she said.

“However, the arrangements [the corporation] was pursuing have not worked out and BBC Resources is currently inviting interested parties to consider making an offer to purchase.

“BBC Resources is hopeful that the collection will remain available to the BBC and other customers following its disposal. BBC Costume and Wigs will cease trading on Thursday, February 14.

“The department is unable to take any new bookings for hires. However, all outstanding commitments will be honoured up to and beyond the closure.”

Dorothy has plundered the sofa cushions at AustenBlog World Headquarters and will be passing the collection basket. Dig deep, Janeites!

Thanks to Alert Janeite Lisa for the heads up!

Alert Janeite Aad, who keeps us up to date on Dutch DVD releases, let us know that House of Knowledge has released a 3-DVD set called “Klassieke Boekverfilmingen,” which includes MP07, NA07, and E96 (Beckinsale). (The cover shows a photoshop of Fanny Price, Emma Woodhouse, and John Thorpe. We’d like to be a fly on the wall at THAT tea party.) Aad commented,

Personally I find this release a bit of a letdown, several productions cramped together in a hideous ‘faux’ classic book-design box. Uncertain about the possible release of decent ’single’ dvd’s, this could be the only way Dutch fans could get these Austen adaptations, so I would recommend getting the original English dvd’s.

Aad also let us know that on April 11, Just Entertainment will release a 6-disc set, collecting their previous releases of Northanger Abbey 1986, Persuasion 2007, Pride and Prejudice 1980, and S&S71, and Becoming Jane will be released by A-Film on May 8.

Also, Alert Janeite Lucy discovered that a three-DVD set including E96, NA07, and MP07 will be released in Australia (Region 4) on March 3. Lucy suspects that means NA and MP at least will be shown on Sunday, March 2, as they usually release DVDs immediately after television broadcasts, but the ABC television guide does not at present go past March 1. So keep your fingers crossed down under–you might be seeing these soon in some form or other.

Happy Valentine’s Day, a day late.

Elizabeth and Darcy were chosen as one of “Pop Culture’s Best Couples” by Entertainment Weekly.

Thanks to Alert Janeite Emily for the heads-up!