Tag Archives: official documents

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 →

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 →

On trial: State Papers: Eighteenth Century (Parts I and IV)

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Thanks to a request from a HCA student the Library currently has trial access to Parts I and IV of State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 from Gale. Part I covers State Papers Domestic, Military and Naval and the Registers of the Privy Council, while Part IV covers State Papers Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Turkey.

You can access these two collections from here or via the E-resources trials page. Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 15th April 2019.

Part I: State Papers Domestic, Military and Naval and the Registers of the Privy Council

Screenshot of SP 35/71/1 f.5: Considerations on the nature of oaths, found at Lord North and Grey’s, Sept. 28 1722.

Continue reading →

On trial: digital collections relating to the slave trade and slavery in the West Indies

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*The Library has now purchased access to the collection ‘Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865 ’. See New to the Library: Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865*

Thanks to a request from staff in HCA the Library currently has access to two digital archive series from British Online Archives relating to the slave trade in the West Indies, Running the West Indies: British records from West Indian countries under colonial rule and The trade in people: The slave trade in Africa and the West Indies.

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

Trial access ends 17th March 2019. Continue reading →

On trial: Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy

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*The Library has access to Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*

Thanks to a request from student in HCA the Library currently has trial access to Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy, just one of the primary source collections from Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) published by ProQuest. This collection chronicles the development of U.S. policy as it attempts to deal with the tragedy experienced in Argentina during the critical, formative period of the late 1970’s.

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

Trial access ends 19th December 2018.

It was a turbulent and traumatic time in Argentina in the late 1970s, featuring a political collapse verging on civil war; a military coup; and massive illegal detentions, torture and kidnappings. Argentina, 1975-1980 comprises 2,429 documents and these documents show U.S. officials grappling with human rights violations on a scale never heard of in the Western Hemisphere, underscored by the dramatic disappearance of tens of thousands of people at the hands of the security forces. Continue reading →

On trial: Colonial State Papers

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*The Library now has access to Colonial State Papers until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*

Further to a request from an academic in HCA I’m pleased to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to Colonial State Papers from ProQuest. From British trade and history, to overseas expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries, Colonial State Papers provide a fascinating insight into the past.

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

Trial access ends 19th December 2018.

Through collaboration with The National Archives, Colonial State Papers offers you access to over 7,000 hand-written documents and more than 40,000 bibliographic records and is an incredibly useful resource for anyone looking at Colonial History. In addition to Britain’s colonial relations with the Americas and other European rivals for power, the Colonial State Papers also include coverage of the Caribbean and Atlantic world. Continue reading →

On trial: The Stuart and Cumberland Papers

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*The Library has now purchased access to the The Stuart and Cumberland Papers. See New to the Library: The Stuart and Cumberland Papers*

I’m pleased to let you know that Gale Cengage are giving us trial access to one of the digitised archive from State Papers Online, the Stuart and Cumberland Papers. This archive contains two remarkable collections from the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, which have been digitised for the first time and are available online in their entirety.

You can access this online resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 14th December 2018.

The Stuart Papers represent the correspondence and personal documents of the exiled members of the Stuart dynasty after 1688. These papers were acquired by George IV when Prince Regent, following the death of Henry Bennedict Stuart, Cardinal York, and were originally kept in the Prince’s Library at Carlton House. The collection tells the story of the lives of James II and his heirs with the majority of papers concerning the period 1713 to 1770, and provide an insight into Jacobite attempts to regain the throne. The later papers in the collection concern Cardinal York’s relations with the Vatican until his death in 1807. Continue reading →

First World War: through our Library resources

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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 →

On trial: State Papers Online, Part III

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Thanks to a request from staff members in both HCA and ECA the Library currently has trial access to State Papers Online, Part III: The Stuarts: James I to Anne, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic from Gale Cengage. This database is a digital collection of English government documents originating primarily from the seventeenth century that allow you to take an in-depth view of some of the issues dominating England at that time.

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

Trial access ends 21st November 2018.

State Papers Online, Part III documents one of the most compelling and turbulent eras in Britain’s social, political and religious history. The era’s internal struggles come to life through a wealth of primary source documents including: royal and diplomatic correspondence, reports and parliamentary drafts from civil servants and provincial administrators. Continue reading →

On trial: Governing Africa

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I’m happy to let you know that thanks to a request from a student in HCA the Library currently has trial access to a series of digital collections from British Online Archives, called Governing Africa: British records from African countries under colonial rule. The series includes 13 collections that between them have over 2,500 primary source documents, covering nearly 30 countries including Malawi, South Africa, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria and have documents dating from 1808-1995.

As we’re currently in Black History Month and with the University’s Africa Week 2018 starting later this week it seemed an appropriate series for the Library to get on trial for staff and students.

You can access the database via the E-resources trials page.

Trial access ends 21st November 2018. Continue reading →