Cambridge University Press re-designed the interfaces of two popular reference collections: Cambridge Histories Online and Cambridge Companions Online. The old interface had various usability issues, which left the user at times frustrated. The new interface is less cluttered, more user-friendly and its attractive design and color scheme are pleasing to the eye.

Did you know that Cambridge University Press continues to add new and old print titles to the Cambridge Histories Online collection? In 2012, six back-list titles and seventeen new titles were added. Noteworthy among the new titles is The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: Dimensions of the Early American Empire, 1754–1865 by William Earl Weeks, not to be confused with the 1993 volume authored by Bradford Perkins. The remaining three volumes in the series are slated for publication later this year. Forthcoming in 2013 is the second volume of the Cambridge History of Science series entitled Medieval Science. New 2012 titles include:

• The Cambridge History of Religions in America edited by Stephen J. Stein
  (Volumes I-III: Pre-Columbian Times to 1945)
• The Cambridge History of War, Volume 4: War and the Modern World edited by Roger Chickering, Dennis Showalter and Hans van de Ven
• The Mughal Empire by John F. Richards
• The Cambridge History of American Women’s Literature by Dale M. Bauer
• The Cambridge History of Early Medieval English Literature edited by Clare A. Lees

The interface for Cambridge Companions Online mirrors the Cambridge Histories Online interface except for the crimson color scheme. The Companions focuses on philosophy, religion, culture, literature, classics and music.

When did you last browse either one of these remarkable collections? It may be time to take a fresh look.