Discovering ProQuest Primary Sources

Looking for primary sources and historical documents for your dissertation or research project? Interested in finding out more about how to search some of the primary source databases you have access to at the Library? Looking to use archive newspapers for your research?

ProQuest are giving our students and staff the opportunity to join their training team for a series of seminars exploring their extensive Primary Source collections, which you have access to from the Library. In each 30-minute tutorial, you will take a deep dive into key ProQuest resources and will learn the best search strategies, tips and tricks for getting the most relevant results for your research projects. This is a really great opportunity to learn from the experts how to use these fantastic resources and find relevant material for you.

The following seminars are available to book now:
Who was Sally Hemings? (focussing on Historical Newspapers)
Reclaim the Night (focussing on Historical Newspapers)
Decolonisation in Parliamentary Sources (focussing on UK Parliamentary Papers)
Birth Control in Periodicals (focussing on Periodical resources)
Iranian History
History Vault (History Vault covers 19th and 20th century U.S. history)
Second Vatican Council (focussing on Twentieth Century Religious Thought)

Discovering Primary Sources: Who was Sally Hemings?

Date/Time: 27 January – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will concentrate on Sally Hemings, once an enslaved woman owned by Thomas Jefferson, and use Black Historical newspapers to investigate her story.

Historical Newspapers used for this webinar include: Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Los Angeles Sentinel, New York Amsterdam News, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Philadelphia Tribune, and Pittsburgh Courier.

Click to register

Discovering Primary Sources: Reclaim the Night

Date/Time: 16 February – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will concentrate on Reclaim the Night, a movement begun in 1977 as a response to the Yorkshire Ripper murders.

Historical Newspapers used for this webinar include: The Guardian and The Observer, The New York Times, The Times of India, and other newspaper archives held offered by ProQuest.

Click to register

Discovering Primary Sources: Decolonisation in Parliamentary Sources

Date/Time: 10 March – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will delve into United Kingdom Parliamentary Papers and illustrate search strategies to find resources related to colonial history, specifically to do with the Atlantic Charter and decolonisation of Ghana.

Primary Sources used for this webinar include: all collections available in United Kingdom Parliamentary Papers.

Click to register.

Discovering Primary Sources: Birth Control in Periodicals

Date/Time: 31 March – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will delve into how birth control has been used and discussed in periodicals since the early 20th century.

Primary Sources used for this webinar include: Periodical Archives Online, Periodical Index Online, the Vogue Archive, and Women’s Magazine Archive.

Click to register.

Discovering Primary Sources: Iranian History

Date/Time: 21 April – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will concentrate on Iranian history. You will learn searching strategies as well as how to leverage the features on the platform to support your search of primary resources.

Primary sources use for this webinar to include: TBC

Click to register.

Discovering Primary Sources: History Vault

Date/Time: 12 May – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will concentrate on ProQuest History Vault. You will learn searching strategies as well as how to leverage the features on the platform to support your search of primary resources.

Primary Sources used for this webinar include: various modules in History Vault.

Click to register.

Discovering Primary Sources: Second Vatican Council

Date/Time: 21 June – 11:00 GMT
Duration: 30 mins

This session will concentrate on the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and look at some of the wide-reaching changes to the Catholic Church that were made as a result of this Council. We will use this topic to explore the resources available on our Alexander Street Platform.

Resources covered in this session: Twentieth Century Religious Thought.

Click to register.

These seminars are free to attend. To book your place, please register via the links above or at ProQuest Primary Sources Training 2021.

These sessions are only available to current students and staff at the University of Edinburgh.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology