Placing High-redshift Quasars in Perspective: A Catalog of Spectroscopic Properties from the Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph-Distant Quasar Survey

We present spectroscopic measurements for 226 sources from the Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph-Distant Quasar Survey (GNIRS-DQS). Being the largest uniform, homogeneous survey of its kind, it represents a flux-limited sample (m(i) less than or similar to 19.0 mag, H less than or similar to 16.5 mag) of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars at 1.5 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 3.5 with a monochromatic luminosity (lambda L-lambda) at 5100 angstrom in the range of 10(44)-10(46) erg s(-1). A combination of the GNIRS and SDSS spectra covers principal quasar diagnostic features, chiefly the C iv lambda 1549, Mg ii lambda lambda 2798, 2803, H beta lambda 4861, and [O iii] lambda lambda 4959, 5007 emission lines, in each source. The spectral inventory will be utilized primarily to develop prescriptions for obtaining more accurate and precise redshifts, black hole masses, and accretion rates for all quasars. Additionally, the measurements will facilitate an understanding of the dependence of rest-frame ultraviolet-optical spectral properties of quasars on redshift, luminosity, and Eddington ratio, and test whether the physical properties of the quasar central engine evolve over cosmic time.