Tag Archives: Black history

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. Continue reading →

British Online Archives – full access until 30th June 2020

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*Access has been extended until 30th June 2020*

I’m happy to let you know that British Online Archives (BOA) are providing 30 days free access (starting from 23rd March) to its entire collection of digital primary sources in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.

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 →

JSTOR – expanded set of content freely available now

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*JSTOR have extended their expanded access to e-journals and digital primary source databases until 31st December 2020 and their expanded access to e-books until 31st August 2020.*

I’m delighted to let you know that JSTOR, and their participating publishers, are making an expanded set of content freely available to participating institutions where students have been displaced due to COVID-19.

What this means at the University of Edinburgh is that we are getting access to journals and primary source collections that we do not already have a licence for and a collection of ebooks freely available through June 30, 2020.

To see the journals and primary source collections included see JSTOR’s Expanded access to journals and primary sources page. To see the participating publishers for the e-books (not all of their partner publishers are participating) see JSTOR’s Expanded access to ebooks page.

While at the University we already have access to 2 of JSTOR’s primary source collections, 19th Century British Pamphlets and Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa, this expanded offer from JSTOR gives us access for a limited period to World Heritage Sites: Africa and Global Plants. Continue reading →

New to the Library – Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa (Aluka)

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I’m happy to let you know that following a request from a member of HCA staff the Library  now has a subscription to the digital primary resource Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa (Aluka) from JSTOR. This extensive and fascinating resource contains 20,000 objects and 190,000 pages of documents and images documenting the liberation struggles in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

You can access Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa (Aluka) via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. You can also access it via DiscoverEd. Continue reading →

On trial: Black Newspaper Collection

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*The Library has access to all titles from the Black Newspaper Collection until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*

Thanks to a request from staff in HCA, and to coincide with Black History Month, I’m pleased to let you know the Library currently has trial access to the full Black Newspaper Collection from ProQuest. This superb resource contains the archives of 9 individual newspaper titles (2 of which the Library already has access to) that provide cultural perspective and insight to the events that shaped the United States in the 20th Century.

You can access Black Newspaper Collection from the E-resources trials page.
On-campus access is direct. For off-campus access you will need to connect to VPN.

Trial access ends 20th November 2019.

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 →

New to the Library: Women’s Magazine Archive

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I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to the Women’s Magazine Archive, Collection I and II from ProQuest, a searchable archive of leading women’s interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through to the 21st.

You can access the Women’s Magazine Archive via the Databases A-Z list or the Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide. You can also access the individual magazine titles via DiscoverEd.

Consumer magazines aimed at a female readership are recognised as critical primary sources through which to interpret multiple aspects of 19th and 20th-century history and culture. Archival issues, however, have previously been difficult to locate and navigate. Continue reading →

New to the Library: Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865

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I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865 from British Online Archives. This database contains a wide range of documents concerning the African slave trade during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The papers focus primarily on Jamaica and the West Indies but also cover the experience of other nations and regions.

You can access Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865 via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide.You can also access it via DiscoverEd.

Through a combination of statistics, correspondence, pamphlets, and memoirs, Slavery: supporters and abolitionists offer insights into the commercial and colonial dimensions of slavery and the views of its advocates and opponents. Continue reading →

On trial: The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 – 1974

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*The Library has access to The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974 until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*

Thanks to a request from a HCA student I’m happy to let you know the Library currently has trial access to The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 – 1974 from Alexander Street Press. The Sixties documents the key events, trends, and movements in 1960s America through digitised archive and primary source material.

You can access The Sixties from the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 30th June 2019. Continue reading →

New to the Library: African American Studies from Oxford Bibliographies

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Thanks to a request from staff in History I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to Oxford Bibliographies: African American Studies.

You can access Oxford Bibliographies: African American Studies via DiscoverEd, the History subject guide or via the entry to Oxford Bibliographies on the Databases A-Z list.

Oxford Bibliographies: African American Studies provides bibliographic articles that identify, organise, cite, and annotate scholarship on key areas of African American Studies—culture, politics, law, history, society, religion, and economics. Regularly updated and expanded with new content, this module is one of the first places you should turn to if you are interested in authoritative references to African American Studies. Continue reading →

Spotlight on: FBI Files

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This is part of an occasional series highlighting some of the digital resources available at the Library that will be of interest to students and staff in History, Classics and Archaeology.

Federal Bureau of Investigation [Public domain]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was formed in 1908 by then Attorney General, Charles Bonaparte, under President Theodore Roosevelt. Initially known as the Bureau of Investigation (it added “Federal” in 1935) over the next 110 years the FBI’s remit and influence grew considerably and they are synonymous with American cultural, social and political history in the 20th century and beyond.

The FBI have been involved in a large number of famous, not so famous and infamous cases dealing with organised crime, terrorism, civil rights, white collar crime, espionage, violent crime and more. And did you know that through the Library you have access to a range of digitised files from the FBI?

FBI Files in Archives Unbound

Through the Library’s subscription to Archives Unbound (an enormous digital primary source database) you have access to over 20 collections of digitised material direct from the FBI, covering over 70 years of American history. You’ll spot some famous cases and names within these but possibly also some less known. However, between them they provide a fascinating insight into the political, cultural and social climate of the United States in the 20th century.

FBI File: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a nondescript couple accused in 1950 by the U.S. government of operating a Soviet spy network and giving the Soviet Union plans for the atomic bomb. The trial of the Rosenbergs, which began in March 6, 1951, became a political event of greater importance than any damage they may have done to the United States. It was one of the most controversial trials of the 20th century. Their guilt and the harshness of their sentences continue to be vigorously debated to this day. Continue reading →