History subject resources

These History collections provide instant access to scholarly research, journal articles and book reviews. They may be accessed 24/7 and each collection has its own help and guidance on the home page.

Journal and database collections

Box of Broadcasts is an on demand TV and radio service for education. The academically-focused system enables you to record programmes from over 65 free-to-air channels, and search an extensive archive. Box of Broadcasts is intuitive and easy to use, so you may find you can start straight away
Cambridge Core A collection of scholarly journals, useful for locating full text journal articles for History.
JSTOR An extensive archive of journals, as it is an archive the most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are not available. Use it to find journal articles. It is extremely relevant for the study of History. The collections include JSTOR Arts and Sciences I,II,III and VII.
Oxford Academic A collection of journals published by Oxford University Press that can be used to find journal articles. History is one of the subject areas covered.
Project Muse Use this to find full text journal articles from the Humanities Collection. Research areas of History.
SAGE Research Methods is a database which supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through each step of the research process. From writing your research question and choosing a method, to analysing data, writing up and publishing the findings. Resources include a methods map, books, reference works, journal articles, podcasts and instructional videos from world-leading academics. With information on qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, Sage Research Methods is the ideal tool to support you through your research in social sciences.

Specialist history sources

Black Thought and Culture can help you explore 20th century African American cultural trends. It contains 1,297 sources with 1,098 authors, covering the non- fiction published works of leading African Americans. The ideas of nearly 100 people present an evolving and complex view of what it is to be black in America. Also includes a full run of The Black Panther Newspaper.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers: 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries Access the 18th, 19th and 20th Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. Useful for historical research as it a detailed primary source of information.
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals: Part I: Women’s, Children’s, Humour, and Leisure. is a useful primary source for the study of 19th Century History.
Periodicals Archive Online A collection of 20th Century periodical archives. Subject areas covered include language, literature and history. Specific interest for film history and Victorian poetry.

Newspapers can be a useful way of keeping up to date with current affairs or recent events. Newspaper archives usually contain issues which are less recent and which are useful for finding articles of a more historical interest.

British Library Newspapers, 1800-1900 contains a large range of national, regional and local newspapers from the period. These include the Illustrated Police News, the Chartist Northern Star and the Morning Chronicle.
Daily Mail Historical Archive 1896-2004 contains news stories and images that capture 20^th century culture and society. Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. Useful for historical research.
Gale OneFile: News contains articles from over 2300 newspapers from around the world. These include major British newspapers, as well as US and Australian titles. It also has thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.
Lexis+ contains over 650 regional and national UK newspapers from 1982 to the present. It is possible to limit your search to either national or regional titles, or you can search the whole of the newspaper database. Enter Lexis and click content and select Newspapers.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection Rev. Charles Burney’s collection of early English news media. A comprehensive primary source for this period, helps track the development of news.
Times Digital Archive The Times (London) 1785-2019. Use it to find newspaper articles. The entire newspaper is captured with all articles, advertisements and illustrations.

ACLS History E-book is a collection of humanities books (1855-2005) both in print and out of print. Books are provided via the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library. Useful for history and literature research.
JISC Historical Texts contains four collections of historical texts:

British Library 19th Century Collection contains over 65,000 19th Century texts from the collection of the British Library.

Early English Books Online Early English Books (1473-1700) printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America. From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare. Useful for the study of English literature, linguistics and history.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online Works published in the UK during the 18th century plus thousands from elsewhere. Useful for History and Literature research.

UK Medical Heritage Library has images and full text from over 66,000 19th Century European medical texts.

Referencing the sources of information you use is an essential part of academic writing and your research, it’s important to get it right. Referencing is the acknowledgment of all the sources that have been cited in your assignment, whether you have quoted directly or paraphrased.

History use the MHRA referencing style.

The full guide can be downloaded from: MHRA, Modern Humanities Research Association.

The English, History and Creative Writing department runs regular sessions on referencing.