{"id":2565,"date":"2018-11-09T08:54:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T08:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/hcalibrarian\/?p=2565"},"modified":"2018-11-28T13:41:42","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T13:41:42","slug":"first-world-war-through-our-library-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/hcalibrarian\/2018\/11\/09\/first-world-war-through-our-library-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"First World War: through our Library resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend, Sunday 11th November, marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. In this week\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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“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.<\/p><\/div>\n

What did the papers say?<\/h1>\n
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Screenshot of front page from The Daily Mirror, Wednesday, August 5, 1914. Available from UK Press Online.<\/p><\/div>\n

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).<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

You can search individual titles, such as The Times<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, The Scotsman<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, The Guardian and The Observer<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, The Daily Mail<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, The Illustrated London News<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, etc.,\u00a0 or cross-search a range of titles, through databases such as UK Press Online<\/strong><\/a>, British Library Newspapers<\/strong><\/a> or Irish Newspaper Archive<\/strong><\/a>, to examine how events leading up to the outbreak of war, during the war and the consequences of the war were reported on.<\/p>\n

Periodicals and magazines from this time can also shed new perspectives on how these events were viewed and reported on, why not try British Periodicals <\/strong><\/a>and American Periodicals<\/strong><\/a>, which both cover multiple, fully-scanned and searchable titles. Or you could try some of the individual magazine archives, such as Country Life Archive<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Harper’s Bazaar Archive<\/strong><\/a> or the Vogue Archive<\/strong><\/a> for their unique take one events.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot from Special Features: These Also Fight For France. Vogue ; New York Vol. 52, Iss. 11, (Dec 1, 1918): 51, 86, 88. Available from The Vogue Archive.<\/p><\/div>\n

All digitised newspaper and periodicals\/magazines archives available via the Library can be accessed from the Newspapers & Magazines database list<\/strong> .<\/a><\/p>\n

What do the archives tell us?<\/h1>\n

Primary sources reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer and they enable you to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. Primary sources can include diaries, correspondence, historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, newspaper and magazine articles, statistical data, speeches, audio and video recordings, art objects, etc.<\/p>\n

The Library has access to a large range of primary source databases that allow you to search for and view digitised primary source material. Here are just a few you may want to use to find more about the First World War.<\/p>\n

Archives Unbound<\/a><\/h2>\n

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This database contains 265 primary source collections that you can access.\u00a0It presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents covering\u00a0a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to 20th century political history.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0Archives Unbound<\/strong>\u00a0covers such a vast range of subjects and collections, searching through the whole database will provide material perhaps from some surprising areas (so it\u2019s very worthwhile doing this) but these are just a selection of the collections related to the First World War that you may find useful.<\/p>\n