Research Guides: HIST 100 Stuff: Objects and Their (Hi)Stories (Spring 2023): Speed Run Demo

Bicycles!

1896 Bike map of Portland, OR
Cunningham, J. H. “Bicycle Road Map Portland District.” Portland, Or: Cunningham & Banks, 1896.

Encyclopedia & Reference

These are general starting points to give me ideas on where I may want to branch off on my topic.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Digitized reference books (encyclopedias, directories, dictionaries, thesauri, atlases, quotation dictionaries, handbooks, etc.) in many subjects. Searchable full text across all volumes. Date coverage: Varies by title. Access available to unlimited users.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
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Information on many subjects from the 14th century BC-21st century AD drawn from reference books published by Oxford University Press. Coverage: Varies by title.
Gale Ebooks This link opens in a new window
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Formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library. Digitized reference books (encyclopedias, directories, etc.) in many subjects, with strong emphasis on literature. Searchable full text across all volumes. Date coverage: Varies by title. Access available to unlimited users.

Use encyclopedia* OR dictionar* OR thesaur* in the catalog to find reference materials on your topic
Example:
Add a keyword like glass in the second box to fiction glass related reference books

Books (Secondary Sources)

Start with Libary Catalog

Remember to limit to books & ebooks.

When picking books to use, consider:

When was it written
It is Really about your topic?
- look at the subject headings
- read the abstract

Articles (Secondary Sources)

Not sure where to start? Use the "Databases" tab on the mail library page

America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Provides full text coverage of the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes nearly 200 journals and 100 books, selective indexing for over 1,700 journals, and abstracts in English of foreign language articles.
Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
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Women's studies, sociology, history, political science & economy, public policy, international relations, arts & humanities, business, and education. Journal and newspaper articles, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, proceedings, reports, theses, dissertations, NGO studies, web sites & web documents, and grey literature. Coverage: 1972-present.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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Multidisciplinary database of journal articles (including peer reviewed), books, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage: 1887-present.

Newspapers (Secondary OR Primary Sources, depending on publication date and use)

Full list of newpaper databases

We have TONS of newspaper databases, about 150. Below are some highlights

America's Historical Newspapers (includes Early American Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Newspapers from all 50 states with eyewitness reporting, letters, advertisements, obituaries, etc. Includes access to Series I (1690-1876), Series II (1758-1900), Series III (1829-1922), Series IV (1756-1922), and Series V (1777-1922). Coverage: 1690-1922.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
This database allows you to search and view public domain newspaper pages (1690-1963) and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times: Historical Newspapers 1859-2019 This link opens in a new window
The Irish Times provides comprehensive news reporting as well as sports, business, arts, lifestyle coverage, and more. Each issue contains in-depth analysis and lively debate of current events. The Weekly Irish Times coverage (1876-1958) includes The Times Pictorial.
Illustrated London News, 1842-2003 This link opens in a new window
Online access to the entire run of the ILN from its first publication on 14 May 1842 to its last in 2003. Each page has been digitally reproduced in full color and every article and caption is full-text searchable with hit-term highlighting and links to corresponding illustrations.
New York Times: Historical Newspapers 1851-2017 This link opens in a new window
Full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. Coverage: 1851-2017.

Magazines (Secondary OR Primary Sources, depending on publication date and use)

Magazines are an outstanding way to find popular articles, images, and essays. Here are just a few examples

British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Offering comprehensive full-run coverage for popular periodicals, this growing resource will offer facsimile page images and searchable full text for nearly 500 British periodicals published from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries, totaling almost five million pages.
American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window
This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window
Periodicals Archive Online is a major archive that makes the backfiles of scholarly periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the searchable full text of hundreds of titles. The database spans more than two centuries of content, 37 key subject areas, and multiple languages.
CQ Magazine This link opens in a new window
US Congress and its issues. Summaries and analyses, previous week's news, status of bills in play, committee and floor activity, debates and all roll-call votes as well as in depth reports on issues facing Congress. Coverage: 1983-2016.
Ebony Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Ebony Magazine Archive covers civil rights, education, entrepreneurship and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes more than 800 issues providing a broad view of African-American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.
Health & Fitness Magazine Archive (1950-2015) This link opens in a new window
The backfiles of consumer magazines devoted to health and fitness topics. With publications aimed at a male readership (e.g. Flex, Mens Health) and womens titles (e.g. Womens Health, Womens Health Activist), this collection supports research in topics such as the history of sex roles, body image, fitness/exercise, public health, food/nutrition, and medicine. The backfile of Prevention (from 1950) offers over six decades of content reflecting contemporary developments in these areas. Coverage: 1950 - 2015

HINT

Go to the database page, Select "find a specific database" and keyword search

Database list

Media

Due to the wide range of topics for this class, it's hard to point everyone to one specific source.
Here are a few starting points.

Full list of image databases
Full list of video databases
Use the main library catalog
Check under "material type" to find images, recordings, etc.

ArtStor This link opens in a new window
Digital images from around the world (including photography, architecture, decorative arts, graphic design, painting, and sculpture) in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. Coverage: all time periods. To download or save images create a free user account with your W&M email.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
One of the largest collections of historical and contemporary imagery. The Associated Press Images Collection contains millions of photos from 1826 to the present, that capture the greatest moments in history, news, sports and entertainment. More than 3,500 photos are added daily.

Other Primary Sources

We have an insane number of primary source databases.

The best want to find the primary source database you need is to:

Read the descriptions
keyword search the descriptions
Use course pages to point you in the correct direction

Some examples:

Full list of primary source databases
Full list of our massive collection of Primary sources databases

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. HathiTrust provides long-term preservation and access services to digitized content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house member institution initiatives. Items in the public domain are in full-view for everyone and items held in copyright are searchable.
Advertising America This link opens in a new window
The J. Walter Thompson Company Archive documents the history, operation, policies and accomplishments of one of the world's largest and oldest advertising firms. The papers here reveal many aspects of twentieth-century cultural, social, business, marketing, consumer and economic history while investigating the human psyche.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
This resource contains digitizations of popular culture collections from the U.S. and U.K. between 1950 to 1975. These original archival materials are from various libraries and archives. Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, and the Vietnam War. The collection includes pamphlets, letters, government files, eye witness accounts, underground magazines, visual and video materials and ephemera and memorabilia. Part II contains additional material, such as music, press kits, mail order catalogues, advertising proofs, additional photos from the Mirrorpix archives, and documents on student unrest and the Troubles in Northern Ireland from the National Archives.

Databases on history of Culture
NOTE: found using the keyword search
Main library catalog, limited to publication period of interest. Example search
Limit by type in the Material Types section