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I’m happy to let you know that British Online Archives (BOA) have given us trial access to their digitised primary source collection Military Intelligence Files: Land, Sea & Air, 1938-1974. This collection provides access to secret British government files produced by the intelligence branches of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force and will be of particular interest to those of you looking at the Second World War or the beginnings of the Cold War.
You can access this online resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 9th May 2018.
Screenshot from Royal Air Force: Weekly Intelligence, Jul 1940-Feb 1941 (Military Intelligence Files, British Online Archives).
Thanks to a request from staff in HCA I’m pleased to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 from Gale Cengage. This is an expansive and comprehensive collection of works written or published in the United States, as well as items printed elsewhere, that document the history of the Americas over more than 400 years. The database is based on Joseph Sabin’s famed bibliography Bibliotheca Americana.
You can access this online resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 10th April 2018.
[Screenshot from] Galv~ao, António. The discoveries of the world from their first originall vnto the yeere of our Lord 1555. Londini, 1601. 107pp. Sabin Americana. Gale, Cengage Learning. 14 March 2018Continue reading “On trial: Sabin Americana, 1500-1926”
In this week’s blog post I wanted to highlight a number of primary source databases that you have access to at the University that allow you to discover more about black history.
I’m concentrating on collections available to you through Archives Unbound, which presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents. There are currently 265 collections in Archives Unbound covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to 20th century political history.
As Archives Unbound covers such a vast range of subjects and collections, searching through the whole database will provide material perhaps from some surprising areas (so it’s very worthwhile doing this), however, I’m going to focus on some of the individual collections. You can access the individual collections by clicking on “Browse Collections”, where you can either browse through an alphabetical list or choose to browse by “Categories” instead.
So here is just a small selection of collections that will allow you to take your research into black history further.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman
Fannie Lou Hamer (née Townsend) was born in Mississippi in 1917. The youngest of 20 children she would go on to become an American voting rights activist and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Hamer was instrumental in organising Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was actively involved in starting the Delta Ministry, and she was one of the founders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party later to become the Vice-Chair. Continue reading “Explore black history through Archives Unbound”
Following a successful trial towards the end of last academic year I’m pleased to let you know that we’ve been allowed trial access again to Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War: Intelligence, Strategy and Diplomacy from The National Archives and Taylor & Francis. This provides you with access to 144,000 pages of British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files source from the National Archives U.K. Content which is only available elsewhere by visiting the National Archives in London.
You can access this online archive via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 26th March 2018.
This major primary source database contains nine file series which span four major 20th century conflicts – the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War and the Korean War. Files are sourced from the Permanent Undersecretary’s Department (PUSD) – the PUSD was the point of liaison between the Foreign Office and the British intelligence establishment – Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, War Cabinet, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence. Continue reading “On trial: Secret Files from World Wars to Cold Wars”
*The Library now has access to all titles in the Black Newspaper Collection until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*
Thanks to a request from a HCA student the Library has trial access to the Black Newspaper Collection from ProQuest Historical Newspapers. This superb resource contains the archives of 9 individual newspaper titles that provide cultural perspective and insight to the events that shaped the United States in the 20th Century.
You can access Black Newspaper Collection via the e-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 28th March 2018.
Black Newspapers offers primary source material key to the study of American history and African-American culture, history, politics, and the arts. The 9 titles included in this resource are: Continue reading “On trial: Black Newspaper Collection”
We currently have trial access to Literary Print Culture: The Stationers’ Company Archive and London Low Life, two fascinating primary source databases from Adam Matthew.
So if you’re interested in the history of the book or of publishing, working and social lives in Victorian London, history of copyright, police and criminality in the 19th century, the workings of an early London Livery Company, commerce in London and more, then there may be something here for you.
Left: Hints to men about town, or, Waterfordiana: containing a list and description of the most known,swell, flash-up, and downright introducing houses and celebrated seraglios … with the means employed to prevent venereal infection … / by a sporting surgeon (1830s) from London Low Life. Right: Architectural plan for Oxford University Press, Amen Corner (1913) from Literary Print Culture.
Both databases can be accessed via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.
I’m happy to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to the Irish Newspaper Archive, the largest online database of Irish newspapers in the world covering nearly 300 years worth of history.
You can access Irish Newspaper Archive via the e-resources trials page.
Access is on-campus. For off-campus access you will need to use VPN.
Trial access ends 20th March 2018.
The Irish Newspaper Archive allows you to search and browse millions of newspaper articles from over 60 titles from the 18th century onwards. Including both regional and national titles it includes such newspapers as Irish Independent, Irish Press, Kerryman, Freeman’s Journal, The Nation and Finn’s Leinster Journal. You can see a full title list at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/plist_static/. Continue reading “On trial: Irish Newspaper Archive”
Following a request from a HCA student I’m pleased to let you know the Library has trial access to the TheListener Historical Archive from Gale Cengage. This gives you access to the complete archive of the BBC periodical that was published from 1929-1991.
You can access The Listener Historical Archive via the e-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 12th March 2018.
The Listener was a weekly magazine established by the BBC under its Director-General Lord Reith. Its aim was to be the intellectual counterpart to Radio Times, then the BBC listings magazine, and featured commentaries on the intellectual broadcasts of the week as well as previews of major literary and musical programmes. What makes the archive even more interesting is that The Listener was original developed as the medium for reproducing broadcast talks (radio and TV) so is one of the few records of the content of many early broadcasts. Continue reading “On trial: The Listener Historical Archive”
This was the response from suffragist, Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, when asked why women would want the vote1.
Today, 6th February 2018, marks 100 years since (some) British women were granted the right to vote for the first time through the Representation of the People Act. This was the culmination of a hard fought campaign and while it would take another 10 years before women would have equal voting rights to men in the UK, with the Representation of the People Act 1928, it was a victory for the suffragette movement.
There are lots of events, exhibitions, programmes, etc., taking place today and this year to mark this important historic event but I wanted to delve into some of the primary sources available to us at the Library which allow you to find out more about the suffragette movement in the UK.
What did the papers say?
The Library subscribes to a large number of online newspaper archives that will allow you to see what events were being reported on at the time and how they were being reported. Read full text articles, compare how different newspapers were covering the same issues and stories, track coverage from the start of the suffragette movement in the 19th century up to the Representation of the People Act 1918 and beyond.
Screenshot from UK Press Online showing the front page of the Daily Express from Thursday February 7, 1918.
On Tuesday 30th January we’ll be holding a Discovery Day event in the Main Library where representatives from 3 publishers of digitised primary source collections and our very own Centre for Research Collections will be on hand to help you navigate through and find useful material in the huge range of primary sources you have access to at the Library.
The University of Edinburgh holds world class collections, including rare books, archives and manuscripts, art, historical musical instruments and museum objects ranging from geological specimens to anatomical models. These unique collections are and can be used for teaching and research within the University and by the wider community.
