On trial: East India Company

Thanks to a request from a member of staff in HCA the Library currently has trial access to East India Company: India Office Records from the British Library, 1599-1947 from AM Digital. This digital resource allows students and researchers to access the vast and remarkable collection of primary source documents from the India Office Records, the single most important archive for the study of the East India Company.

You can access East India Company via the E-resources trials page.

Trial access ends 1st December 2023. Continue reading

On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan

Thanks to a request from a HCA postgraduate student the Library currently has trial access to Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 from AM Digital. This resource allows you to discover Japan’s rise to modernity and its relations with global superpowers through British Government documents from the National Archives, UK.

You can access the Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 via the E-resources trials page.

Trial access ends 24th June 2023.

Published in three parts, this collection makes available extensive coverage of British Foreign Office files dealing with Japan between 1919 and 1952. Continue reading

New to the Library: U.S. Declassified Documents Online

Thanks to a request from HCA staff the Library has recently purchased U.S. Declassified Documents Online from Gale. This database provides immediate access to a broad range of previously classified federal records spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

You can access U.S. Declassified Documents Online via the Databases A-Z list, Digital Primary Sources guide and DiscoverEd. Continue reading

On trial: British Online Archives

*Access has now been extended until 31st March 2022.*

I’m pleased to let you know that British Online Archives (BOA) are providing free trial access to its entire collection of digital primary sources until 28th February 2022.

You can access British Online Archives via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 31st March 2022.

BOA provide students and researchers with access to unique collections of primary source documents. Their website hosts over 3 million records drawn from both private and public archives. These records are organised thematically, covering 1,000 years of world history, from politics and warfare to slavery and medicine. Continue reading

New to the Library: World War Two Studies

Thanks to a request from HCA staff the Library now has access to Research Source: World War Two Studies from Adam Matthew Digital. This resource includes important primary sources, offering insight into many aspects of the conflict, including government policy, the war in the Pacific, and the war in Europe.

You can access Research Source: World War Two Studies via the Digital Primary Source and Archive Collections guide, the Databases A-Z list or via DiscoverEd. Continue reading

New to the Library: Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980

I’m pleased to let you know that following a request from staff in HCA the Library now has access to Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980. This resource allows you to survey the high politics of Independence and Partition, social and cultural interchange after 1947 and the ramifications that these changes continue to have throughout South Asia today.

You can access Foreign Offfice Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan via the Digital Primary Source and Archive Collections guide, the Databases A-Z list or via DiscoverEd. Continue reading

Spotlight on Secret Files from World Wars to Cold Wars

Are you interested in British intelligence, foreign policy, international relations, and military history in the 20th century? Then Secret Files from World Wars to Cold Wars: Intelligence, Strategy and Diplomacy may be just what you’re looking for.

Secret Files from World Wars to Cold Wars provides access to British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, with the majority of files dating from the 1930s and 1940s.

You can access Secret Files from World Wars to Cold Wars via the Databases A-Z list or Digital Primary Source and Archive Collections guide. Continue reading

Spotlight on ProQuest History Vault

Interested in American history? Then ProQuest History Vault may be exactly what you are looking for.

History Vault gives you access to millions of pages of cross-searchable, full-text/full-image documents including articles, correspondence, government records, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries and more, documenting the most widely studied topics in 18th- through 20th-century American history. It’s a fantastic resource for those teaching, learning or researching in the areas of history, African American studies, women’s studies, political science, social sciences, sociology, and international studies.

You can access ProQuest History Vault via the Databases A-Z list or Digital Primary Source and Archive Collections guide. Continue reading

ProQuest Access 350: 600 years of world history

*Access has now been extended until 31st July 2024*

I’m very pleased to let you know that University of Edinburgh Library has set up a new subscription with ProQuest that gives you access to almost all available ProQuest digital primary source databases until 31st December 2021.

ProQuest Access 350 allows you to explore 600 years of world history online and will help enrich learning, teaching and research at the University across a range of subject areas and topics including History, the Arts, Literature and Social Sciences.

Continue reading

On trial: State Papers Online Eighteenth Century

Thanks to a request from a PhD student in HCA the Library currently has extended trial access to State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 Parts I-IV from Gale. This covers the final section of the State Papers series from the National Archives in the UK before the series was closed and replaced by the Home Office and Foreign Office series in 1782.

You can access State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 30th June 2020.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century comes in 4 parts and we have access to all 4 during this trial. Continue reading