Tag Archives: Britain

On trial: Bloomsbury Medieval Studies

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I’m happy to let you know that we currently have trial access to Bloomsbury Medieval Studies, a new interdisciplinary digital resource with a global perspective which opens up the medieval world for students and staff.

You can access Bloomsbury Medieval Studies from the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

*Trial has been extended and access will now end on 24th November 2019*

Bloomsbury Medieval Studies brings together high-quality secondary content with visual primary sources, a brand new reference work and material culture images into one cross-searchable platform. 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 →

New to the Library: Picture Post Historical Archive

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Did you know the Library now has access to the Picture Post Historical Archive? This database comprises the complete archive of the Picture Post from its first issue in 1938 to its last in 1957 – all digitised from originals in full colour.

You can access the Picture Post Historical Archive via the Databases A-Z list or the Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide. Access via DiscoverEd will also soon be possible.

Picture Post was a photojournalistic magazine, often seen as the UK equivalent of Life, that was considered a groundbreaking example of photojournalism and was hugely successful from its first issue and throughout the 1940s. At its peak it is estimated its readership was 80% of the British population. In the era before television, it became the window on the world for ordinary people, bringing the major social and political issues of the day into popular consciousness. Continue reading →

New to the Library: Stuart and Cumberland Papers

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I’m really happy to let you know that the Library has recently been able to purchase the extensive Stuart and Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, digitised for the first time by Gale. This fascinating digital primary source database has been much requested by both students and staff in HCA, as well as ECA and LLC, and I hope it proves to be a useful and well-used resource for teaching, learning and research.

You can access the Stuart and Cumberland Papers via the Databases A-Z list or the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. Access via DiscoverEd will also soon be possible.

This primary source database contains two remarkable collections, The Stuart Papers and The Cumberland Papers, available online in their entirety. Continue reading →

Normandy landings: through our digital primary sources

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On this day, 6 June, 75 years ago the Normandy landings took place. This was part of a major combined naval, air and land assault on German-occupied France by Allied forces, codenamed Operation ‘Overlord’. The D-Day landings saw around 150,000 Allied troops land on French soil but it was just the start of a much longer operation to liberate France. In this week’s blog post I have pulled together just a small selection of our digital library resources that will help you explore the Normandy landings, the events leading up to it and the aftermath. And you can use many of these to find out more about the many other events happening around this time that contributed to the end of the Second World War.

D-Day For the Second Front, ‘Illustrated London News’, Saturday 10 June 1944, pp. 644-645. From Illustrated London News Archive.

What did the papers say?

Operation Overlord was top secret, so it wasn’t until the 6th June that news of the invasion began to filter through. Reports of the Normandy landings does appear in some late editions of newspapers from that day but it is mostly covered in issues published the next day, 7th June, or on next subsequent publication date.

Front page of the ‘Daily Express’, Wednesday 7 June 1944. From UK Press Online.

The Library subscribes to a large number of digitised newspaper archives that will allow you to see what events were being reported on at the time and how they were being reported. Read full text articles, compare how different newspapers were covering the same issues and stories and track coverage of Operation Overlord from the Normandy landings onwards. Continue reading →

New books in the Library for History, Classics and Archaeology

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Thanks to recommendations from members of staff and requests via RAB from students the Library is continually adding new books to its collections both online and in print. Here are just a (very) small number of the books that have been added to the Library’s collections in semester two, 2018/19 for the School of History, Classics and Archaeology and these demonstrate the wide range of subjects being taught, studied and researched within School.

–> Find these and more via DiscoverEd.

Akrotiri: the archaeological site and the museum of prehistoric Thera: a brief guide by Christos G. Doumas (shelfmark: DF221.T38 Dou.)

Roman death: the dying and the dead in ancient Rome by Valerie M. Hope (shelfmark: HQ1073.5.R66 Hop. Also available as e-book).

Black revolutionary: William Patterson and the globalization of the African American freedom struggle by Gerald Horne (shelfmark: E185.97.P32 Hor.)

From Augustus to Nero: an intermediate Latin reader edited by Garrett G. Fagan and Paul Murgatroyd (shelfmark: PA2095 Fro.)

Information, communication, and space technology by Mohammad Razani (e-book).

Public sculpture of Edinburgh (vol. 1 and 2) by Ray McKenzie ; with research by Dianne King and Tracy Smith (shelfmark: NB481.E4 Mack.) Continue reading →

On trial: Medieval and Early Modern Studies

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*The Library has now purchased access to this resource. See New to the Library: Medieval and Early Modern Studies.*

Thanks to a request from staff in HCA the Library currently has trial access to the Adam Matthew Digital research resource Medieval and Early Modern Studies. This offers you access to a huge range of primary sources covering social, cultural, political, scientific and religious perspectives, from the 15th to early 18th centuries.

You can access Medieval and Early Modern Studies from the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 17th June 2019.

The breadth of resources provided within this collection is extensive, from sources concerning the Black Death to Restoration of the English monarchy and the Glorious Revolution. Continue reading →

On trial: State Papers: Eighteenth Century (Part II)

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Thanks to a request from a student in HCA and following a previous trial the Library now has trial access to Part II of State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 from Gale. Part II covers State Papers Foreign: Low Countries and Germany.

You can access State Papers: Eighteenth Century (Part II) via the E-resources trials page. Access is direct on-campus but if working off-campus you must use VPN.

Trial access ends 30th May 2019. Continue reading →

On trial: Financial Times Historical Archive

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Thanks to a request from a student in HCA the Library currently has trial access to the Financial Times Historical Archives, 1888-2016 from Gale. This is the complete run of the London edition of this internationally known daily paper, from its first issue through 2016.

You can access the Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2016 via the E-resources trials page.
Access is direct on-campus but if working off-campus you must use VPN.

Trial access ends 3rd June 2019. Continue reading →

On trial: Prosecuting the Holocaust: British investigations into Nazi war crimes

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I’m happy to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to the brand new digital primary source collection, Prosecuting the Holocaust: British investigations into Nazi war crimes, 1944-1949, from British Online Archives. Drawn from the UK National Archives, this collection contains a wealth of information regarding the British government’s efforts to investigate and prosecute Nazi crimes.

You can access Prosecuting the Holocaust via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 30th April 2019. Continue reading →