I’m happy to let you know that after a successful trial earlier this year the Library now has access to The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991 from Gale Cengage. This gives you complete access to the archive of this landmark BBC publication.
You can access The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991 via the Databases A-Z list and Newspapers & Magazines database list. You can also access the title through DiscoverEd.
Screenshot from front page of first issue, Wednesday, January 16, 1929.
70 years ago today, 5 July, the National Health Service (NHS) was established, one of a number of social and welfare reforms from the post-World War II Labour government (though initial proposals for the NHS came from the World War II coalition government). Launched just over two years after Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, published his National Health Service Bill, the NHS provided medical and healthcare services for free at the point of delivery.
On the NHS’s 70th birthday I have pulled together a small selection of primary resources, digital and physical, you have access to at the Library that will help you explore the history of the NHS.
Mass Observation was a pioneering social research organisation founded in 1937. The aim was to create an ‘anthropology of ourselves’, and by recruiting a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers they studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This original work continued until the early 1950s and gives unparalleled insight into everyday life in Britain during that time.
Through our Library you have access to Mass Observation Online, which makes available the entire Mass Observation archive from that period and includes original manuscript and typescript papers (such as diaries, day reports, questionnaires, observations, etc.) created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and some interactive features.
Mass-Observation. 1949. Meet Yourself at the Doctor’s. London: Naldrett. Available from Mass Observation Online.
In Mass Observation Online you will find a large amount of material detailing people’s opinions and experiences of the NHS from its earliest days. From Mass Observation’s own file reports and publications pulling together people’s comments, observations and experiences of the NHS to the original diary entries and questionnaire responses.
The material available allows you to read about people’s views on the NHS prior to it being launched and their opinions and experiences of the service in its first few years of existence.
When you are using Mass Observation Online the easiest way to find material regarding the NHS is by clicking on the “Popular Searches” button near the top right-hand side of page and then under the “Organisations” tab click on “National Health Service”. Continue reading
I’m delighted to let you know that following a successful trial in 2017/18 the Library has now purchased access to the New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) from ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Founded in 1909 this is one of the leading Black newspapers of the 20th century and the oldest and largest Black newspaper in New York City.
You can access New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) via the Databases A-Z list and Newspapers & Magazines database list. You can also access the title through DiscoverEd*
The Amsterdam News was founded over 100 years ago by James H. Anderson and was named after the street where he lived and where the first issues were produced and sold. It was one of only 50 Black newspapers in the United States at that time. Continue reading
I’m really pleased to let you know that the Library has purchased access to the Daily Mail Historical Archive (1896-2004) from Gale Cengage. Regardless of your personal feelings about the Daily Mail this is a fascinating archive that provides access to over 100 years of the newspaper, while also providing an important alternative perspective to newspapers such at The Times, The Guardian, etc.
You can access Daily Mail Historical Archive (1896-2004) via the Databases A-Z list, Newspapers & Magazines database list and relevant subject guides. Access via DiscoverEd will also become available soon.
The Daily Mail Historical Archive includes nearly 1.2 million pages of content from the paper, including all of the major news stories, features, advertisements and images. And as well as the regular edition of the newspaper, uniquely the archive also includes the Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, which was published on board the transatlantic liners that sailed between New York and Southampton between 1923 and 1931. Issues of the Daily Mail Atlantic Edition are very rare and not available digitally from any other source. Continue reading
On this day, 30 June, in 1940 the Germans invaded the Channel Islands which was the beginning of nearly 5 years occupation. In this week’s blog I’m using some of the Library’s online resources to find primary source material to discover more about this facet of the Second World War.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Jersey War Tunnels, one of Jersey’s many tunnel complexes built by mostly forced and slave labour under German command during the occupation.I have to admit that before that visit I really knew very little about this period in the Channel Islands history but I was inspired by the incredibly moving and fascinating exhibition to try and find out what primary source material was available to us through the University Library’s fantastic online primary source collections about the occupation.
© Mark Cairney
There are many stories that could be told about the Channel Islands occupation and I encourage you to seek them out but due to the nature of our online primary source collections and time limits I’m focusing on what the outside world, mainly Britain, knew (or didn’t) about what was happening on the Channel Islands during the occupation.
The first half of 1940 was a dark time for the Allies in the Second World War. In fairly quick succession Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and France were invaded by Germany. With the evacuation at Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) and France, faced with no real other choice, signing an armistice with Germany in June of that year, Britain was now on its own and under threat.
The Daily Mirror, Tuesday, 18 June 1940, p. 7. UK Press Online. Accessed 25th May 2018.
I’m very happy to let you know that following a successful trial earlier this year and further to requests from students and staff in HCA the Library has a 1-year subscription to the Irish Newspaper Archive. This is the largest online database of Irish newspapers in the world covering nearly 300 years worth of history.
You can access the Irish Newspaper Archive via the Databases A-Z list or Newspapers and Magazines database list. You will soon also be able to access it via DiscoverEd. Access on-campus is direct but if you are working off-campus you will need to use VPN to get access. Continue reading
*The Library has now purchased access to this resource. See New to the Library: Services Newspapers of World War Two.*
Thanks to a request from staff in HCA the Library has been allowed trial access to the brand new digitised primary source collection Service Newspapers of World War Two by Adam Matthew Digital. This resource gives you unique insight into the story of war as told by the newspapers and magazines that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces.
You can access this online resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 14th May 2018.
Service Newspapers of World War Two contains an extensive range of both rare and well-known wartime publications for soldiers serving in major theatres around the world. Publications are included from many key nations involved in the conflict, such as the US, Canada, New Zealand, India, and the countries of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Both Allied and Axis publications are presented, offering a broad view of the war and the experiences of those on its front lines. Continue reading
In this week’s blog post I wanted to highlight a number of primary source databases that you have access to at the University that allow you to discover more about black history.
I’m concentrating on collections available to you through Archives Unbound, which presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents. There are currently 265 collections in Archives Unbound covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to 20th century political history.
You can access Archives Unbound via the Databases A-Z list or Primary Sources database list.
As Archives Unbound covers such a vast range of subjects and collections, searching through the whole database will provide material perhaps from some surprising areas (so it’s very worthwhile doing this), however, I’m going to focus on some of the individual collections. You can access the individual collections by clicking on “Browse Collections”, where you can either browse through an alphabetical list or choose to browse by “Categories” instead.
So here is just a small selection of collections that will allow you to take your research into black history further.
Fannie Lou Hamer (née Townsend) was born in Mississippi in 1917. The youngest of 20 children she would go on to become an American voting rights activist and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Hamer was instrumental in organising Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was actively involved in starting the Delta Ministry, and she was one of the founders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party later to become the Vice-Chair. Continue reading
*The Library now has access to all titles in the Black Newspaper Collection until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*
Thanks to a request from a HCA student the Library has trial access to the Black Newspaper Collection from ProQuest Historical Newspapers. This superb resource contains the archives of 9 individual newspaper titles that provide cultural perspective and insight to the events that shaped the United States in the 20th Century.
You can access Black Newspaper Collection via the e-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 28th March 2018.
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
*The Library has now subscribed to this resource. Find out how to access at New to Library: Irish Newspaper Archive*
I’m happy to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to the Irish Newspaper Archive, the largest online database of Irish newspapers in the world covering nearly 300 years worth of history.
You can access Irish Newspaper Archive via the e-resources trials page.
Access is on-campus. For off-campus access you will need to use VPN.
Trial access ends 20th March 2018.
The Irish Newspaper Archive allows you to search and browse millions of newspaper articles from over 60 titles from the 18th century onwards. Including both regional and national titles it includes such newspapers as Irish Independent, Irish Press, Kerryman, Freeman’s Journal, The Nation and Finn’s Leinster Journal. You can see a full title list at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/plist_static/. Continue reading