Tag: primary source
Primary Sources: Caribbean Newspapers, Series 1, 1718-1876
Caribbean Newspapers, Series 1, 1718-1876, is a fully searchable collection of over 130 18th- and 19th-century newspapers from twenty-two Caribbean islands. Most newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Danish-, French-, and Spanish-language titles are included. Essential for researching colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, international commerce and relations, New World slavery, and related topics.
This resource has only recently been released and new content will be added each month until the end of 2014.
Caribbean Newspapers can also be searched as part of Archive of Americana, a collection of primary source collections that include Early American Imprints, Early American Newspapers, American State Papers, and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
Trial: British Online Archives
Until November 22nd, The Library has trial access to the British Online Archives, which includes 38 collections of primary historical sources. Main areas of coverage include missionary and colonial records through the archives of the East India Company and the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. There is a strong emphasis on slavery and the Triangular Trade as well as a large collection of material concerning Anglo-American relations. There are many collections concerning twentieth century British politics, including the papers of the Parliamentary Labour Party and the British Union of Fascists, as well as a separate archive dedicated to the Communist Party of Great Britain.
You can select either the Advanced Search link in the menu, or Start in the black navigation bar to access the Advanced Search page. Enter your search or category criteria here, and select any of the filter options. You can also perform a Quick Search of the archive by entering up to five keywords in the menu search field.
Search results will come up with any collections which contain the keywords searched for in their metadata. To narrow down your search and home in on your desired result, click the collection you would like to see the results for, you can then search within the collection, the results will show only the series that are relevant to your search, within the series a document that is relevant, and within the document individual images that contain the search criteria. If only one document matches, the search will take you straight to it. At the image level your search ‘hits’ will be highlighted red in the left hand panel of the document viewer.
Please send your comments about this source to dorner@berkeley.edu or comment here.
Primary Sources: Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 1
Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 1 is made up of plantation journals, crop books, overseers’ journals, account books, personal diaries, and business and personal correspondence drawn from major repositories in the south. A more detailed description of the collection can be found in the promotional flier.
This module is part of a resource called History Vault. It is possible to search and browse the entire module and to browse individual collections within the module. Searching the module is fairly straightforward, but a quick start guide is available to assist you.
Resource Trial: Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Parts 5-8
Until October 17, The Library has a trial of parts 5-8 of Nineteenth Century Collections Online. Parts 1-4 were acquired last year by CDL for all of the UCs.
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Note that these new modules are still being built and are not complete. Your comments on whether you found useful sources in the new modules would be welcome.
Primary Sources: La Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux (BVMM)
La Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux (BVMM) is a digital library of medieval manuscripts from French libraries across the country (but not the National Library) made available by the IRHT (Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes). The interface is in French but easy to use. There is a map view that allows you to browse by city.
Resource Trial: Additional ProQuest Primary Source databases
ProQuest has added more of their resources to the UC-wide trial they are offering. These include:
- Historic Chinese Newspapers
- The Boston Globe
- The Times of India
- History Vault- Vietnam War
- History Vault- Women’s Rights Movement
- Entertainment Industry and Magazine Archive
Click HERE for ProQuest Trial Access
Digital Public Library of America is launched
“In its first iteration, the DPLA will combine a group of rich, interesting digital collections, from state and regional digital archives to the special collections of major university libraries and federal holdings. The DPLA will demonstrate how powerful and exciting it can be to bring together our nation’s digitized materials, metadata (including catalog records, for instance), code, and digital tools and services into an open, shared resource. Imagine the ability to access a vastly larger set of materials than ever before, both through a single web portal and through your local library, which has carefully curated a subset of the national database.”
From “What is the DPLA?” (John Palfrey, Library Journal, April 8, 2013)
Here is the new site: http://dp.la/
A recent article by Robert Darnton in the New York Review of Books describes the creation and future of the DPLA.
See also: How the Digital Public Library of America hopes to build a real public commons
Resource Trial: Multiple primary source collections
The vendor ProQuest is providing trial access to a wide range of products that some UCs own and some have tried out. The trials are good for 29 days. If you have any feedback on these resources, feel free to comment on the blog or contact me directly.
The trial includes:
British Periodicals Online – Collection 1 & 2
To experience this collection: Click HERE to trial ProQuest British Periodicals
Early European Books
To learn more about this collection, please visit: Early European Books
History Vault Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930
History Vault NAACP Papers – 3 Modules
To learn more about this collection and the eleven additional modules available, please visit: ProQuest History Vault
Libguide support for this collection: ProQuest History Vault LibGuide
To experience this collection: Click HERE to trial History Vault
LA Sentinel (1934-2005)
New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993)
The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)
To earn more about this collection, please visit: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Libguide support for this collection: ProQuest Historical Newspapers LibGuide
To experience this collection: Click HERE to trial ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Resource Trial: Early European Books
ProQuest is offering a free open trial to Early European Books to readers of the Early Modern Online Bibliography blog. Access is from April 8th to April 22, 2013.
“Through the highest quality digital reproductions of thousands of printed works by important writers and thinkers working in continental Europe pre-1700, Early European Books gives researchers an international overview of early print culture during this vibrant period of history… All volumes are digitized on-site at participating libraries, which to date include Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Bibliotheque nationale de France (from June 2013), Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, and Wellcome Library, London.”
To access Early European Books, visit http://earlymodernonlinebib.wordpress.com/ 8-22 April.
Primary Sources: Historic Mexican & Mexican American Press
The University of Arizona Library has made available 20 historic publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection covers important periods in Mexican-American history, from the Mexican Revolution to the Bracero Program to the Chicano Movement. The home page for the collection provides a basic search and allows you to search all of the publications or to limit to a single publication.
SEARCH TIP: You can enter more than one search term in the basic search, but if you want to do a more sophisticated search, an advanced search option is available. However, this will take you to the Library’s complete collection of their own digitized items and you cannot limit your search to the entire Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection, you will have to choose the publications you want to search from a list.
One handy tool offered by the site is a timeline of the available publication dates for each title represented in the collection.