On trial: Gale Primary Sources (even more content!)

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I’m very pleased to let you know that the Library has been given extended trial access to an extensive range of primary source databases and collections from Gale. This is an exciting opportunity to access a wide range of these digital primary sources that wouldn’t normally be available to us but also compliment the wide range of primary source databases we already have access to from Gale.

You can access all of these trial databases via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off campus.

Trial access to these databases ends 30th June 2020.

Gale are a major publisher in primary source databases and the Library already has access to a vast range of material from them covering 100s of years of world history (see What do we already have access to from Gale?) but they have many more databases available that we have not purchased or subscribed to (unfortunately these databases are incredibly expensive).

We had already set up extended trial access to 4 of their databases (these are included in list below) but Gale have now provided trial access to an even larger number of their databases to us and while there may not be something for everyone, it’s probably not far off.

The following list is all the Gale databases currently on trial until 30th June 2020. You can access all of these from the E-resources trials page. You can also cross-search nearly all of these databases, as well as the majority of the Gale primary source databases we already have access to, via Gale Primary Sources.

  • American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society
  • Archives of Sexuality and Gender: International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture 
    [Note: this is the new fourth module. The Library already has access to the other 3 modules, LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 Part I and Part II, and Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century]
  • China and the Modern World
  • Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920
  • Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2016
  • International Herald Tribune Historical Archive, 1887-2013
  • Making of the Modern World
  • National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-1994
  • Nineteenth Century Collections Online
    • Asia and the West
    • British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture
    • Children’s Literature and Childhood
    • Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture
    • Maps and Travel Literature
    • Photography: The World through the Lens
    • Religion, Reform, and Society
    • Science, Technology, and Medicine, Part I and Part II
    • Women and Transnational Networks
    • [Note: the Library already has access to British Politics and Society and European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection]
  • Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
  • Political Extremism and Radicalism
  • Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement
  • Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926
  • Slavery and Anti-Slavery
  • The Daily Mirror Historical Archive
  • The Making of Modern Law
    • American Civil Liberties Union Papers
    • Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600-1926
    • Foreign Primary Sources
    • Landmark Records and Briefs of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1950-1980
    • Primary Sources
    • Trials 1600-1926
    • [Note: the Library already has access to Legal Treatises, 1800-1926]
  • State Papers Online
    • Part I: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
    • Part III: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I – Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic
    • Part IV: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I – Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Foreign, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council
    • [Note: the Library already has access to Part II: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council and The Stuart and the Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle]
  • State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 Parts I-IV
  • The Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822-2016
  • The Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2016
  • Women’s Studies Archive

It’s worth taking a look at the entries for all of these on the E-resources trials page as sometimes the title of the database doesn’t always adequately reflect the range and scope of the material it contains. Using Gale Primary Sources to cross-search them all or a selection of them, including databases the Library already has access to from Gale, can be a good way of pinpointing specific databases you may want to do more advanced searching in or highlighting documents in databases you may not have considered searching.

What do we already have access to from Gale?

As mentioned already the Library has purchased access to or subscribed to a wide and varied range of digital primary source databases from Gale over a number of years. They are:

  • Archives Unbound (which includes over 300 databases)
  • Archives of Sexuality & Gender (parts 1-3)
  • Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
  • Nineteenth Century Collections Online
    • British Politics and Society
    • European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection
  • The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926
  • State Papers Online, 1509-1714: Part II
  • The Stuart and Cumberland Papers (State Papers Online)
  • 17th and 18th Century Burney Newspapers Collection
  • 19th Century UK Periodicals
  • British Library Newspapers
  • Daily Mail Historical Archive
  • The Economist Historical Archive
  • Illustrated London News Historical Archive
  • The Listener Historical Archive
  • Picture Post Historical Archive
  • The Times Digital Archive
  • Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive.

You can access all of the digital primary source databases we currently have access to from Gale and other publishers via the Digital primary source and archive collections guide and Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide or the Databases A-Z list.

Remember the vast majority of Gale primary source databases* including those on trial access can be searched via Gale Primary Sources.
*Does not include State Papers Online databases.

You can access all of the trial databases via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off campus.
Trial access to these databases ends 30th June 2020.
Feedback welcome.

Access is only available to current students and staff at University of Edinburgh.

Please note, trial access to a resource is an opportunity for our staff and students to try a resource out and give feedback on its quality and usefulness. However, if we trial a resource this is not an indication that we plan to or will be able to purchase or subscribe to the resource in the near future.

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