New to the Library: The New Republic Archive

I’m pleased to let you know that through the Saunders endowment for North American history the Library has been able to purchase The New Republic Magazine Archive from EBSCOhost. This digital archive offers a searchable full-text backfile of all issues of The New Republic from 1914 onwards.

You can access The New Republic Magazine Archive  via DiscoverEd. You will also soon be able to access it via the Databases A-Z list or the Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide. Continue reading

On trial: Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War

*The Library has access to Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*

Thanks to a request from a student in HCA the Library currently has trial access to the primary source database Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War from ProQuest. The database is an archival research resource containing a vast collection of rare magazines by and for servicemen and women of all nations during the First World War.

You can access this digital resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access on-campus is direct, for off-campus access you must use VPN.

Trial access ends 28th February 2019.

Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War is a unique source of information on the common serviceman and woman’s experience of the war. These magazines were written by and for every type of unit from every combatant nation. The database gives you the unique opportunity to access unheard voices of hundreds of thousands of men and women writing from every facet of the conflict. Continue reading

First World War: through our Library resources

This weekend, Sunday 11th November, marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. In this week’s blog post I have pulled together just a small selection of Library resources, digital and physical, that will help you explore the First World War, the events leading up to it and the aftermath.

“Armistice Day: The Scene outside Buckingham Palace after the End of the Fighting Had Been Announced.” Illustrated London News [London, England] 16 Nov. 1918: n.p. Available from Illustrated London News Historical Archive.

What did the papers say?

Screenshot of front page from The Daily Mirror, Wednesday, August 5, 1914. Available from UK Press Online.

During the war the British Government tried to strictly control reporting on events, particularly from the front line. Legislation was passed in 1914 which allowed the War Office to censor the press and at first journalists had to go undercover to try and report on what was happening. Even when the Government relented and agreed to send accredited British war correspondents to the front line their reports were still heavily censored and were often overt propaganda, with actual facts about events never being reported (see reporting or non-reporting on the Battle of the Somme as an example).

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 the First World War from the escalating hostilities prior to the outbreak to its conclusion and aftermath. Continue reading

#100years: “Because…we want to get on with our work more quickly”

This was the response from suffragist, Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, when asked why women would want the vote1.

Today, 6th February 2018, marks 100 years since (some) British women were granted the right to vote for the first time through the Representation of the People Act. This was the culmination of a hard fought campaign and while it would take another 10 years before women would have equal voting rights to men in the UK, with the Representation of the People Act 1928, it was a victory for the suffragette movement.

There are lots of events, exhibitions, programmes, etc., taking place today and this year to mark this important historic event but I wanted to delve into some of the primary sources available to us at the Library which allow you to find out more about the suffragette movement in the UK.

What did the papers say?

The Library subscribes to a large number of online 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, track coverage from the start of the suffragette movement in the 19th century up to the Representation of the People Act 1918 and beyond.

Screenshot from UK Press Online showing the front page of the Daily Express from Thursday February 7, 1918.

Continue reading

Discovery Day – find your way round our digital primary sources

Working on your dissertation and looking for primary source material? Looking to incorporate digitised primary sources into your teaching? Wanting to expand your research with digital resources? Or just have no idea what primary source material might be available to you at the Library?

The Library’s very first Discovery Day, on Tuesday 30th January, may be exactly what you are looking for.

We invite you to the 1st floor, Main Library on Tuesday 30th Jan between 10am-3pm where representatives from 3 of the major publishers of digitised primary source collections, Adam Matthew, Gale Cengage and ProQuest, and our very own Centre for Research Collections (CRC), will be on hand to help students and staff navigate through and find useful material in the huge range of primary sources we have access to online at the Library. Continue reading

Spotlight on ProQuest digital primary sources

On Tuesday 30th January we’ll be holding a Discovery Day event in the Main Library where representatives from 3 publishers of digitised primary source collections and our very own Centre for Research Collections will be on hand to help you navigate through and find useful material in the huge range of primary sources you have access to at the Library. ProQuest are one of the publishers who will be attending and this blog post highlights the fantastic collections the Library has access to through them.

The Library has access to a large and broad range of primary source collections that can be accessed via the Primary Source database list or the separate Newspapers & Magazines list and Images & Moving Images list.

Through ProQuest the Library has access to around 45 of these fantastic databases. ProQuest has built its expertise in preserving and widening access to significant research collections over 75 years, partnering with large and small libraries and archives, to bring you collections encompassing government, humanities, and historical documents that formerly may have been difficult to retrieve. Alexander Street Press and Chadwyck-Healey databases are also part of the ProQuest suite of resources.

Below are the databases you have access to via ProQuest. As there are so many I have split them into broad categories. Continue reading

Spotlight on Gale Cengage digital primary sources

On Tuesday 30th January we’ll be holding a Discovery Day event in the Main Library where representatives from 3 publishers of digitised primary source collections and our very own Centre for Research Collections will be on hand to help you navigate through and find useful material in the huge range of primary sources you have access to at the Library. Gale Cengage are one of the publishers who will be attending and this blog post highlights the fantastic collections the Library has access to through them.

The Library has access to a large and broad range of primary source collections that can be accessed via the Primary Source database list or the separate Newspapers & Magazines list and Images & Moving Images list.

The Library is very lucky to have access to 12 of these types of databases from Gale Cengage, a leader in education, learning, and research resources online. This actually gives you access to around 300 collections of primary source material. Gale’s digital collections span 500 years of history and a wide breadth of topics, including politics, society, business and leisure. Continue reading

Spotlight on Adam Matthew digital primary sources

On Tuesday 30th January we’ll be holding a Discovery Day event in the Main Library where representatives from 3 publishers of digitised primary source collections and our very own Centre for Research Collections will be on hand to help you navigate through and find useful material in the huge range of primary sources you have access to at the Library. Adam Matthew are one of the publishers who will be attending and this blog post highlights the fantastic collections the Library has access to through them.

The Library has access to a large and broad range of digital primary source collections that can be accessed via the Primary Source database list (see also the separate lists for Newspapers & Magazines and Images & Moving Images).

Adam Matthew are a publisher who specialise in producing high-quality, digitised primary source collections online. They put together thematic collections sourced from libraries, archives, museums, etc., around the world and they have databases that cover the Medieval period onwards.

The Library is very lucky to have access to 11 of these collections (or databases) from Adam Matthew and all can be accessed via the Primary Source database list.

China: Culture and Society

Continue reading

Why football banned women

In this week’s blog I’m using some of the Library’s online resources to find primary source material relating to the popularity of women’s football during and just after the First World War and the decision by the FA to ban it.

The other night on catch-up I watched the Channel 4 documentary When Football Banned Women, programmed to coincide with the Women’s EURO 2017 (which Channel 4 just happens to be showing, it’s like they thought about their programming or something!) This interesting documentary looked at the rise in popularity of women’s football during the First World War and the subsequent decline after the decision by The Football Association (FA) to ban the women’s game in 1921.

If you’ve not seen it you can watch it on Box of Broadcasts (BoB).

Screenshot from ‘When Football Banned Women’ (Channel 4).

As I am always looking for an excuse to use some of the University Library’s fantastic online primary source collections, I decided this was a perfect story to try and find out more about from our online archives.

While I primarily used some of the online newspaper archives the Library has access to for that period, I did do some searching in some other primary source collections that covered the period in question. You can find a list of the specific databases I used at the end of the post.

Women’s football in the First World War

With 1000s of men being called up to fight in the First World War, women were expected to take on roles as never before in the workplace and with this came other opportunities. Women’s football teams began to form, often put together or sponsored by the industries and companies now employing the vast female workforce. These teams began to play matches with the primary aim of raising money for charity and while spectators may have originally attended to help raise money and to watch what they thought of as a novelty, they continued to attend as the matches were good and the teams had skill. Continue reading

On trial: primary source collections from British Online Archives

Following a request from staff in HCA, the Library currently has trial access to two digital primary source collections from British Online Archives, Conscientious Objection during the World War 1 and The Middle East, its division into countries and the creation of Israel, 1879-1919.

Trial access ends 6th August 2017.

Conscientious Objection during the World War 1

During World War One, Conscientious Objectors united to oppose the war despite the criticism they faced. Three of these anti-war protest groups included the Conscientious Objector Information Bureau, the Union of Democratic Control, and the No-Conscription Fellowship. Conscientious Objection during the World War 1 includes complete files of key anti-war publications. It also contains rare reports from the Conscientious Objector Information Bureau. The internal papers include minutes from the Union of Democratic Control and letters from the No-Conscription Fellowship. The Fellowship’s most prominent figure, Clifford Allen, wrote a number of these items. Local Fellowship branches in Willesden, Middlesex and in Hyde, Greater Manchester are also covered. Also included amongst the papers is Thomas Henry Ellison’s scrapbook. Thomas was a Conscientious Objector and spent much of his time during the war in prison. His scrapbook covers both his own experiences and the experience of the anti-war movement as a whole. Continue reading