research books on history

The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

Zachary Schrag

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The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century

Skills for Scholars

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The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian’s craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries. Zachary Schrag begins by explaining how to ask good questions and then guides readers step-by-step through all phases of historical research, from narrowing a topic and locating sources to taking notes, crafting a narrative, and connecting one’s work to existing scholarship. He shows how researchers extract knowledge from the widest range of sources, such as government documents, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, images, interviews, and datasets. He demonstrates how to use archives and libraries, read sources critically, present claims supported by evidence, tell compelling stories, and much more. Featuring a wealth of examples that illustrate the methods used by seasoned experts, The Princeton Guide to Historical Research reveals that, however varied the subject matter and sources, historians share basic tools in the quest to understand people and the choices they made.

Offers practical step-by-step guidance on how to do historical research, taking readers from initial questions to final publication
Connects new digital technologies to the traditional skills of the historian
Draws on hundreds of examples from a broad range of historical topics and approaches
Shares tips for researchers at every skill level

Skills for Scholars: The new tools of the trade

Awards and recognition.

Winner of the James Harvey Robinson Prize, American Historical Association
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

Introduction: History Is for Everyone
History Is the Study of People and the Choices They Made
History Is a Means to Understand Today’s World
History Combines Storytelling and Analysis
History Is an Ongoing Debate
Autobiography
Everything Has a History
Narrative Expansion
From the Source
Public History
Research Agenda
Factual Questions
Interpretive Questions
Opposing Forces
Internal Contradictions
Competing Priorities
Determining Factors
Hidden or Contested Meanings
Before and After
Dialectics Create Questions, Not Answers
Copy Other Works
History Big and Small
Pick Your People
Add and Subtract
Narrative versus Thematic Schemes
The Balky Time Machine
Local and Regional
Transnational and Global
Comparative
What Is New about Your Approach?
Are You Working in a Specific Theoretical Tradition?
What Have Others Written?
Are Others Working on It?
What Might Your Critics Say?
Primary versus Secondary Sources
Balancing Your Use of Secondary Sources
Sets of Sources
Sources as Records of the Powerful
No Source Speaks for Itself
Languages and Specialized Reading
Choose Sources That You Love
Workaday Documents
Specialized Periodicals
Criminal Investigations and Trials
Official Reports
Letters and Petitions
Institutional Records
Scholarship
Motion Pictures and Recordings
Buildings and Plans
The Working Bibliography
The Open Web
Limits of the Open Web
Bibliographic Databases
Full-Text Databases
Oral History
What Is an Archive?
Archives and Access
Read the Finding Aid
Follow the Rules
Work with Archivists
Types of Cameras
How Much to Shoot?
Managing Expectations
Duck, Duck, Goose
Credibility
Avoid Catastrophe
Complete Tasks—Ideally Just Once, and in the Right Order
Maintain Momentum
Kinds of Software
Word Processors
Means of Entry
A Good Day’s Work
Word Count Is Your Friend
Managing Research Assistants
Research Diary
When to Stop
Note-Taking as Mining
Note-Taking as Assembly
Identify the Source, So You Can Go Back and Consult if Needed
Distinguish Others’ Words and Ideas from Your Own
Allow Sorting and Retrieval of Related Pieces of Information
Provide the Right Level of Detail
Notebooks and Index Cards
Word Processors for Note-Taking
Plain Text and Markdown
Reference Managers
Note-Taking Apps
Relational Databases
Spreadsheets
Glossaries and Alphabetical Lists
Image Catalogs
Other Specialized Formats
The Working Draft
Variants: The Ten- and Thirty-Page Papers
Thesis Statement
Historiography
Sections as Independent Essays
Topic Sentences
Answering Questions
Invisible Bullet Points
The Perils of Policy Prescriptions
A Model (T) Outline
Flexibility
Protagonists
Antagonists
Bit Players
The Shape of the Story
The Controlling Idea
Alchemy: Turning Sources to Stories
Turning Points
Counterfactuals
Point of View
Symbolic Details
Combinations
Speculation
Is Your Jargon Really Necessary?
Defining Terms
Word Choice as Analysis
Period Vocabulary or Anachronism?
Integrate Images into Your Story
Put Numbers in Context
Summarize Data in Tables and Graphs
Why We Cite
Citation Styles
Active Verbs
People as Subjects
Signposting
First Person
Putting It Aside
Reverse Outlining
Auditing Your Word Budget
Writing for the Ear
Conferences
Social Media
Coauthorship
Tough, Fair, and Encouraging
Manuscript and Book Reviews
Journal Articles
Book chapters
Websites and Social Media
Museums and Historic Sites
Press Appearances and Op-Eds
Law and Policy
Graphic History, Movies, and Broadway Musicals
Acknowledgments

"This volume is a complete and sophisticated addition to any scholar’s library and a boon to the curious layperson. . . . [A] major achievement."— Choice Reviews

"This book is quite simply a gem. . . . Schrag’s accessible style and comprehensive treatment of the field make this book a valuable resource."—Alan Sears, Canadian Journal of History

"A tour de force that will help all of us be more capable historians. This wholly readable, delightful book is packed with good advice that will benefit seasoned scholars and novice researchers alike."—Nancy Weiss Malkiel, author of "Keep the Damned Women Out": The Struggle for Coeducation

"An essential and overdue contribution. Schrag's guide offers a lucid breakdown of what historians do and provides plenty of examples."—Jessica Mack, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

"Extraordinarily useful. If there is another book that takes apart as many elements of the historian's craft the way that Schrag does and provides so many examples, I am not aware of it."—James Goodman, author of But Where Is the Lamb?

"This is an engaging guide to being a good historian and all that entails."—Diana Seave Greenwald, Assistant Curator of the Collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

"Impressive and engaging. Schrag gracefully incorporates the voices of dozens, if not hundreds, of fellow historians. This gives the book a welcome conversational feeling, as if the reader were overhearing a lively discussion among friendly historians."—Sarah Dry, author of Waters of the World: The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole

"This is a breathtaking book—wide-ranging, wonderfully written, and extremely useful. Every page brims with fascinating, well-chosen illustrations of creative research, writing, and reasoning that teach and inspire."—Amy C. Offner, author of Sorting Out the Mixed Economy

historyprofessor.org website, maintained by Zachary M. Schrag, Professor of History at George Mason University

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The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives' American History Research Guide is a select list of resources for students, teachers, and researchers to learn about various topics of American History.

Anacostia Community Museum
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution : Bibliography on the History of the Smithsonian Institution
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National Museum of American History
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Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies : The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies which documents and interprets the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States. Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies has recently merged into the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Bracero History Archive : The Bracero History Archive collects and makes available the oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964. Millions of Mexican agricultural workers crossed the border under the program to work in more than half of the states in America.
Ellis Island : The Ellis Island Immigration Museum and their online American Family Immigration History Center (AFIHC) allows visitors to explore the collection of immigrant arrival records stored in the Ellis Island Archives.
Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide To Published Sources : Library of Congress bibliography of print and web based resources.
Immigration History Research Center : The IHRC develops and maintains a library and archival collection, provides research assistance, produces publications, and sponsors academic and public programs. Its work supports the parent institution, the University of Minnesota.
Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930 : Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, is a web-based collection of selected historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the US from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression.
I mmigration: The Changing Face of America : A Library of Congress site for teachers and students.
National Archives & Records Administration Immigration Records: Immigration Records : NARA has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1800 and 1959. The records are arranged by Port of Arrival.
Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture : This Lehigh University Digital Library site highlights the Lehigh Valley's mid nineteenth-century boom, late twentieth-century decline and continuing community readjustment. Through the digitization and presentation of letters, books, photographs, maps, essays, and oral histories the site will aid researchers in understanding not only the lives of railroad barons and steel titans, but also the experiences of average folks who worked and lived in the community.
Inside an American Factory: Westinghouse Works Collection : A part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this collection of films, images and text. The collection contains 21 films showing various views of Westinghouse companies. Most prominently featured are the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and the Westinghouse Machine Company.
U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection : The Indiana University Digital Library Program is produced this series of more than 2,200 photographs of the Gary Works steel mill and the corporate town of Gary, Indiana held by the Calumet Regional Archives at Indiana University Northwest.

American Music History Resources

African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 : The sheet music in this digital collection has been selected from the Sheet Music Collection at the John Hay Library at Brown University. The full collection consists of approximately 500,000 items, of which perhaps 250,000 are currently available for use. It is one of the largest collections of sheet music in any library in the United States.
Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz

A bibliography of monographs and lesson plans for teachers from K to 12.

Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments : Features descriptions and images of many items in the collection and publication lists.
Historic American Sheet Music : The Historic American Sheet Music Project provides access to digital images of 3,042 pieces from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University, published in America between 1850 and 1920.
Historic Sheet Music, 1800-1922 : This sheet music collection from the Library of Congress consists of approximately 9,000 items published from 1800 to 1922, although the majority is from 1850 to 1920. The bulk was published in many different cities in the United States, but some of the items bear European imprints. Most of the music is written for voice and piano; a significant minority is instrumental. Notable in this collection are early pieces by Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, as well as music by other popular composers such as Victor Herbert, Jean Schwartz, Paul Dresser, Ernest R. Ball, Gussie L. Davis, Charles K. Harris, and George M. Cohan. Numerous arrangements of classical tunes by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and other famous classical composers are also well-represented.
Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music : This collection, at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library of The Johns Hopkins University, contains over 29,000 pieces of music and focuses on popular American music spanning the period 1780 to 1960. All pieces of the collection are indexed on this site and a search will retrieve a catalog description of the pieces and an image of the cover and each page of music.
RoJaRo Index : An index to more than 300,000 entries, covering 250 music magazines from 20 countries, covering all types of contemporary popular music: rock, jazz, roots, blues, rap, soul, gospel, country, reggae, etc.

The Sheet Music Consortium : The Archive of Popular American Music is a non-circulating research collection covering the history of popular music in America from 1790 to the present. The collection is one of the largest in the country, numbering almost 450,000 pieces of sheet music, anthologies, and arrangements for band and orchestra, and 62,500 recordings on disc, tape, and cylinder. Subject strengths within twentieth-century holdings include music for theater, motion picture, radio and television, as well as general popular, country, rhythm and blues, and rocksongs.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation : A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation consists of a linked set of published Congressional records of the United States of America from the Continental Congress through the 43rd Congress, 1774-1875. A select number of documents and reports from the monumental U.S. Congressional Serial Set are available as well.
American Presidency : This online exhibition from the National Museum of American History has a bibliography under the Resources and Teacher Materials which are age and grade specific.
American Presidency Project : The American Presidency Project was established in 1999 as a collaboration between John Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The archives contain 75,117 documents related to the study of the Presidency.
American President : This resource is sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Launched originally in 2000 as the online companion to "The American President" -- the six-part PBS television series -- American President is a resource on the history of the presidency and the nature of contemporary policy making.
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress : Online publication of the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, published by the Senate Historical Office and the Legislative Resource Center of the House of Representatives. Includes images from the Senate Historical Office. Database is searchable by name, position, and state.
Center for the Study of the Presidency : The Center is a non-profit educational institution devoted to the study of the presidency, government, and politics.
Data.gov : The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Data.gov includes searchable data catalogs providing access to data in three ways: through the "raw" data catalog, the tool catalog and the geodata catalog.
Encyclopædia Britannica's profile of the American Presidency : Read about the presidents and explore the electoral process, election results, images, video, and important documents related to the evolution of the nation's highest office.
I Do Solemnly Swear... Presidential Inaugurations : This Library of Congress collection offers approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files from each of the 54 inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.
JFK Assassination Records Collection Reference System : Over 170,000 assassination-related documents. Contributing agencies include: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); the Department of Justice; and the Department of State.
Miller Center of Public Affairs : The Scripps Library and Multimedia Archive serves as a research facility for scholars of U. S. public policy. The Library’s collection is a specialized one focused on American politics and history with special attention paid to the American Presidency.
POTUS: Presidents of the United States : This resource you will find background information, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents. Links to biographies, historical documents, audio and video files, and other presidential sites are also included.
Presidential Libraries of the National Archives & Records Administration : The Presidential Library system is made up of ten Presidential Libraries. This nationwide network of libraries is administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), located in College Park, MD. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials of U.S. Presidents since Herbert Hoover.
The Role of the Vice President : A brief history of the role of the Vice President as President of the U.S. Senate.
THOMAS - The Library of Congress : THOMAS has the Congressional Record and full text of legislation available from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. In addition, THOMAS has summaries (not full text) of legislation from 1973 (93rd Congress). From the Library of Congress.
Voting America: United States Politics, 1840-2008 : This University of Richmond project examines the evolution of presidential politics in the United States across the span of American history. It offers a wide spectrum of cinematic and interactive visualizations of how Americans voted in presidential elections at the county level over the past 164 years. There are expert analysis and commentary videos that discuss some of the most interesting and significant trends in American political history.
Voting and Registration (U.S. Census Bureau Data) : Contains information on reported voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for the United States.
White House Historical Association : The White House Historical Association is a charitable nonprofit institution whose purpose is to enhance the understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the White House.
The White House Building : Information on the White House, including historical details.
Women in Congress : This web site, based on the book Women in Congress, 1917–2006, contains biographical profiles of former women Members of Congress, links to information about current women Members, essays on the institutional and national events that shaped successive generations of Congresswomen, and images of each woman Member, including rare photos.
American Jewish Historical Society : The American Jewish Historical Society is the oldest national ethnic historical organization in the United States. The Society’s library, archives, photograph, and art and artifacts collections document the American Jewish experience.
American Religion Data Archive : The ARDA collection includes data on churches and church membership, religious professionals, and religious groups (individuals, congregations and denominations).
Divining America: Religion and the National Culture : Divining America: Religion and the National Culture is designed to help teachers of American history bring their students to a greater understanding of the role religion has played in the development of the United States.
Journal of Southern Religion : JSR is an online journal targeted toward scholars, students, and others who are engaged in or interested in the study of Southern religion and culture.
Material History of American Religion Project : The Material History of American Religion Project studied (1995-2001) the history of American religion in all its complexity by focusing on material objects and economic themes.
North Star: A Journal of African-American Religious History : An online journal sponsored by Princeton University.
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic (Library of Congress) : Encompassing over 200 objects including early American books, manuscripts, letters, prints, paintings, artifacts, and music from the Library’s collections and complemented by loans from other institutions, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic explores the role religion played in the founding of the American colonies, in the shaping of early American life and politics, and in forming the American Republic.
Religious Movements Homepage Project at the University of Virginia : This Web site presents detailed profiles of more than two hundred different religious groups and movements in the United States.
Santos: Substance and Soul : There are nine separate reading lists on topics related to the history, culture, preservation, and identification of Santos objects.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online (1841-1902) : The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was published from October 26, 1841 to 1955 and was revived for a short time from 1960 to 1963. Currently, the digitized newspaper collection includes the period from October 26, 1841 to December 31, 1902, representing half of the Eagle's years of publication.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers : This Library of Congress site allows you to search and read newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Common-Place: The Interactive Journal of Early American Life : Common-Place is an electronic quarterly journal about early American history and culture before 1900.
Documenting the American South - University of North Carolina : Documenting the American South (DocSouth) is a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes ten thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History : The Gilder Lehrman Collection is the largest private collection of American history documents in the world. It preserves, exhibits, and disseminates archival resources chronicling the history of the United States from the beginning of European colonization, with emphasis on the period from 1760 through 1876. The collection contains resources on the history of colonial settlement, Indian relations, the American Revolution and its origins, the Constitution, the struggle over slavery, and the Civil War.
H-Net Web Site : H-Net Web Site includes archived copies of all history related listserv discussion lists and vacancy announcements for various fields in the humanities.
Making of America - Cornell University : Materials accessible here are Cornell University Library's contributions to Making of America (MOA), a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
The G.I. Roundtable Series : The American Historical Association produced the G.I. Roundtable Series to help win World War II. The site is comprised of three main sections. Section I: The pamphlets, reproduced here as primary documents, provide a unique insight into what Americans were thinking about at the end of the war, and how the recent past was seen as a prelude to the future. Section II: A still-evolving selection of Background documents and related readings to provide context on the origins and production of the series and the historiography of the period. Section III: The site provides an extensive analysis of the origins of the series, and how it fit into both the Army's larger program of preparation for postwar changes as well as the larger culture in which they were produced.
Within These Walls : An annotated reading list for elementary and middle school students and an extensive bibliography for older students interested in the themes related to the Ipswich House exhibition.
Cookery and Foodways Collection : The University of Denver Cookery and Foodways Collection is particularly strong in American regional cookery, and contains a large number of privately published fund-raising cookbooks from churches, service organizations, and other community groups.
Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl: Immigrant Women in the Turn-of-the-Century City : This web site is based upon curriculum materials produced by American Social History Project as part of the Who Built America? series.
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Collection : The complete National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Collection is a library of 700-800 titles collected between 1890 and 1938 by members of NAWSA and donated to the Rare Books Division of the Library of Congress on November 1, 1938. The bulk of the collection is derived from the library of Carrie Chapman Catt, president of NAWSA from 1900-1904, and again from 1915-1920. Additional materials were donated from the libraries of other members and officers, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Alice Stone Blackwell, Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Smith Miller, and Mary A. Livermore.
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States : This free crowd-sourced project contains over 3,000 biographical sketches of grassroots women suffragists, including a special section focused on nearly 400 Black Women Suffragists.
Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College : The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history.
Women & Social Movements in the United States, 1775-2000 : The Women and Social Movements website is a project of the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender at the State University of New York at Binghamton and includes roughly 900 documents, 400 images, and 350 links to other websites.
Women in America: 1820-1842 : During the first half of the nineteenth century, Tocqueville and Beaumont were joined by scores of other European travelers curious about the new republic, and anxious to fill the European demand for accounts of American life. One of the most striking was the status of women--their domestic roles, their freedom in youth, their responsibilities in marriage, and their importance to the moral and religious life of the republic. Tocqueville and Beaumont observed all manner of social gatherings and recorded the conversations with prominent American citizens on a number of matters, including morality and the status of women.
Women Working, 1800 - 1930 : Women Working, 1800 - 1930 focuses on women's role in the United States economy and provides access to digitized historical, manuscript, and image resources selected from Harvard University's library and museum collections. The collection features approximately 500,000 digitized pages and images.

Automobile and Transportation History

America on the Move : Teachers and parents can use the resource guides, lessons, and activity plans to teach children (K- Middle School) about transportation in American history.
Antique Automobile Club of America : The Antique Automobile Club of America, founded in 1935, is dedicated to perpetuating the memories of early automobiles by encouraging their history, collection and use.
Automobile in American Life and Society : This site was created and developed by the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Henry Ford Museum. Each of the site’s five sections (design, environment, gender, labor, race) contains two essays—an overview of the topic and a more focused case study—plus a select annotated bibliography or bibliographic essay to guide further reading.
Carriage Association of America : The Carriage Association of America is an organization devoted to the preservation and restoration of horse drawn carriages and sleighs. The site features information about the organization and links to related sites.
Hemmings Motor News : This is the online resource of the advertising monthly that is devoted to antique, classic, vintage, muscle, street rod, and special interest automobiles, catering to car collectors and restorers. HMN also features the hobby's most complete calendar of upcoming events, hobbyists' legislative alerts, and a monthly listing of stolen collector cars.
Henry Ford Museum : The Henry Ford Museum began as Henry Ford's personal collection of historic objects. Today, the 12 acre site is primarily a collection of antique machinery, pop culture items, automobiles, locomotives, aircraft, and other items.
Rural Heritage : The online version of the print journal in support of small farmers and loggers who use draft horse, mule and ox power. It features articles and dialogues on animals, equipment, health information, and other resources.
Society for Commercial Archeology : Established in 1977, the SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs, and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape.
Best of History Web Sites
Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
History Matters: The U. S. Survey Course on the Web
National Archives Research Room
National History Day
Smithsonian History Explorer
Using Primary Sources on the Web
Architecture and Urbanism of the Southwest : Architecture and Urbanism of the Southwest, is an illustrated essay by John Messina (AIA, Research Architect) and the University of Arizona Southwest Studies Center and the School of Architecture. The site also provides a recommended readings list of books and articles.
Bata Shoe Museum : Located in Toronto, the Bata Shoe Museum holds over 10,000 shoes in the collection.
Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) 1933 to present : The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections are among the largest and most heavily used in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. This online presentation of the HABS/HAER collections includes digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials.
City Beautiful: The 1901 Plan for Washington, DC : A University of Virginia American Studies project, this site documents the first explicit attempt to utilize the vaguely classical Beaux-Arts architectural style, which emerged from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, for the explicit intent of beautification and social amelioration was the Senate Park Commission's redesign of the monumental core of Washington D.C. to commemorate the city's centennial. The McMillan Plan of 1901-02, named for Senator James McMillan, the commission's liaison and principal backer in Congress, was the United States' first attempt at city planning.
Corning Museum of Glass : The Corning Museum of Glass's home page begins with its local address and phone numbers and provides a menu of places to visit within the museum site, including, "A Resource for Glass," a collection of information developed to answer questions about glass, and "Glossary of Glassmaking Terms," an alphabetical list of terms with in-depth definitions.
Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture : The Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture collects electronic resources for study and research of the decorative arts, with a particular focus on Early America. Included are electronic texts and journals, image databases, and information on organizations, museums and research facilities. The site was created and is maintained at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries.
Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture: Image and Text Collections : The Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture collects and creates electronic resources for study and research of the decorative arts, with a particular focus on Early America. Included are electronic texts and facsimiles, image databases, and Web resources. Made possible by the Chipstone Foundation, the project is produced at the University of Wisconsin Madison General Library System.
Furniture Glossary : A compilation of terms and acronyms on furniture styles, design and construction.
Harper's Bazaar Magazine : A browse-able collection of issues from the 19th Century magazine, Harper's Bazaar (1867-1900).
MAD: Maine Antique Digest : MAD's bulletin board, with table of contents from current issues, and over 90 book reviews of books dealing with antiques and collectibles.
Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art : The Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art in Tacoma Washington presents contemporary art with a sustained concentration on the medium of glass. The Museum exhibition schedule includes works by internationally known artists and trends in contemporary art. The exhibition program offers artists and audiences the opportunity to experiment with and experience a full range of media in the visual arts.
National Building Museum : Created by an act of Congress in 1980, the National Building Museum is America’s premier cultural institution dedicated to exploring and celebrating architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning.
National Register of Historic Places : The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. Properties listed in the Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Noble Craftsman We Promote: The Arts and Crafts Movement in the American Midwest : An online version of the Toledo University exhibition, looks at four particular areas of Arts and Crafts in the Midwest: the book arts, architecture, interior and exterior design, and the decorative arts and attempts to explain how the movement in the heartland differed from its purer British counterpart.
Paint by Number: Accounting for Taste in the 1950s : A brief resource list for a unique subject.
Quilt Index : The Quilt Index aims to be a central resource that incorporates a wide variety of sources and information on quilts, quiltmakers and quiltmaking. The Quilt Index was conceived and developed by The Alliance for American Quilts and implemented in collaboration with Michigan State University's MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online and the Michigan State University Museum.
Sears Modern Homes : This site features a history of the Sears Modern Homes program, photos, catalog advertisements, references and a registry of owners. More than 100,000 Sears ready-made houses were sold from 1908 to 1940.
Skyscraper Museum : Founded in 1996, THE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM is a private, not-for-profit, educational corporation devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. Located in New York City, the world's first and foremost vertical metropolis, the museum celebrates the city's rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.
Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) : Founded in 1940, the Society encourages scholarly research in the field and promotes the preservation of significant architectural monuments that are an integral part of the worldwide historical and cultural heritage. They publish the quarterly Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians and bimonthly Newsletter. There are several bibliographies and links to related organizations.
Stained Glass Magazine : Stained Glass Magazine on the World Wide Web, featuring the Stained Glass Association of America's conference schedule, professional announcements, calls for papers, and lists of useful catalogues and resources of interest to collectors and historians of stained glass.
Strong Museum (Rochester, NewYork) : The Strong Museum's more than 500,000 objects include the world's largest and most historically significant collection of dolls and toys, America's most comprehensive collections of homecrafts and souvenirs, and nationally important collections of home furnishings and advertising materials.
Textile Society of America : The Textile Society of America provides a forum for the exchange and dissemination of information about all aspects of textiles: historic, artistic, cultural, social, political, economic, and technical.
Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports : These documents are primary source material for the study of how urban planning developed up to the end of World War I. They include statements about techniques, principles, theories, and practice by those who helped to create a new professional specialization. This new field of city planning grew out of the land-based professions of architecture, engineering, surveying, and landscape architecture, as well as from the work of economists, social workers, lawyers, public health specialists, and municipal administrators.
Vernacular Architecture Forum : The term "vernacular architecture" applies to traditional domestic and agricultural buildings, industrial and commercial structures, twentieth-century suburban houses, settlement patterns and cultural landscapes. The Vernacular Architecture Forum was formed in 1980 to encourage the study and preservation of these informative and valuable material resources.
Victoria & Albert Museum (London) : The Museum's ceramics, glass, textiles, dress, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, sculpture, paintings, prints and photographs span the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa, and date from ancient times to the present day. There are 2000 images of the collection available for online viewing.
Winterthur Museum & Library (Delaware) : The Winterthur Library contains approximately half a million imprints, manuscripts, visual materials, and printed ephemera for research from the 17th century to the early 20th century. The museum collections include 85,000 domestic artifacts and works of art made or used in America to 1860.
Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention : This site is in association with the Eames exhibition tour
American Environmental Photographs, 1891-1936: Images from the University of Chicago Library : This collection consists of approximately 4,500 photographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. The photographs were taken by Henry Chandler Cowles (1869-1939), George Damon Fuller (1869-1961), and other Chicago ecologists on field trips across the North American continent.
Bureau of Reclamation History : The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation History site is a collection of oral histories, photographs, and papers on the agency and it's work.
Conservation and Environment - Library of Congress : The historic and more recent maps contained in this category show early exploration and subsequent land use in various areas of the United States. These maps show the changes in the landscape, including natural and man-made features, recreational and wilderness areas, geology, topography, wetland area, vegetation, and wildlife. Specific conservation projects such as the growth and development of U.S. National Parks are included in this category.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 : The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 documents the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, through books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and motion picture footage drawn from the collections of the Library of Congress. The collection consists of 62 books and pamphlets, 140 Federal statutes and Congressional resolutions, 34 additional legislative documents, excerpts from the Congressional Globe and the Congressional Record, 360 Presidential proclamations, 170 prints and photographs, 2 historic manuscripts, and 2 motion pictures.
Forest History Society Databases : The Forest History Society has six databases that are searchable on the website via InMagic's Web Publisher software. All of the databases provide useful, detailed information about primary or secondary resource materials that aid research in the broad fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history.
H-Environment - H-NET, the Humanities & Social Sciences Online initiative : This website is intended as a general resource for people interested in environmental history. Much of its content is compiled from the discussion list H-Environment and includes book reviews, conference announcements, a course syllabus library, and a survey of films. There are also links to other organizations and websites where you can find materials of interest.
History of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service : Official website of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with links to their archival collections, oral histories, and other information sources.
Love Canal Collection : The University Of Buffalo Library holds the records of the Ecumenical Task Force, 1979-1991 which contain extensive documentation of the toxic waste controversies associated with the Love Canal and related toxic waste sites in Niagara County, New York. The ETF assembled a resource file of government and other reports concerning the Love Canal and related environmental issues. The reports in the resource file and elsewhere in the records include draft documents, photocopied statements prepared by Love Canal residents, scientists and ETF members for hearings on the Love Canal, speeches, consultant reports, articles, as well as printed and online reports.
Bon Appétit! Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian : The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History website of their Julia Child's Kitchen exhibition.
Doubtless as Good: Thomas Jefferson's Dreams of American Wines Fulfilled : This short bibliography, prepared by staff at the National Museum of American History, includes books on the material culture of viniculture, some historic works on American winemaking not included in the Gabler bibliography, and some relevant works on American culture and taste.
Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project : The Michigan State University Library and the MSU Museum have created an online collection of some of the most influential and important American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century.
Food Reference Website : A fairly comprehensive private website that provides links to articles, information, food history dates, and a wide range of useful information on food.
Food Timeline : A resource about food history, social history, manners and menus covering Prehistory through modern day.
Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive : The Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive at the William L. Clements Library on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor contains thousands of items from the 16th to 20th centuries - books, ephemera, menus, magazines, graphics, maps, manuscripts, diaries, letters, catalogues, advertisements, and reference works. It is a work in progress, and material is being added and catalogued daily.
New York Food Museum : A new and developing web-based resource on New York City foodways and food history.
Peacock Harper Culinary Collection - Virginia Tech University : The Peacock Harper Culinary Collection is a collection of cookbooks and related items housed in the Virginia Tech Library. The VT Image Base contains over 700 images pertaining to culinary history and the collection. They publish an online newsletter called the Virginia Culinary Thymes
Southern Foodways Alliance : The Southern Foodways Alliance website contains links to ongoing research projects, symposiums and their oral history texts. It is a subsidiary of the University of Mississippi's, Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
Taking America to Lunch : This Smithsonian exhibition in the National Museum of American History features samples from the museum's collection of lunch boxes from the 19th century plain metal buckets to 20th century popular culture images on boxes made of synthetic materials.

Graphic Art

American Printing History Association : The American Printing History Association was founded to encourage the study of printing history and its related arts and skills, including calligraphy, typefounding, typography, papermaking, bookbinding, illustration, and publishing. APHA is especially, but by no means exclusively, interested in American printing history.
Fine Press Book Association : The Fine Press Book Association is an organization formed by individuals interested in the art of fine printing to promote printing skills and the appreciation of beautiful books.
Graphic Artists Guild
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum : This Web site traces the history, art, and science of paper making.
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing : The Society (SHARP) provides a global network for book historians, 1000 members in over 20 countries, including professors of literature, historians, librarians, publishing professionals, sociologists, bibliophiles, classicists, booksellers, art historians, reading instructors, and independent scholars.
Separate Is Not Equal: Brown vs. Board of Education : The annotated bibliography includes information about related Web resources and teacher materials, as well as fiction and non-fiction books for children, young adults, and adults.
Slates, Slide Rules, and Software: Teaching Math in America : A collection of reference resources on the tools used in teaching mathematics in the United States from the 1800s onward.

History of Technology - Invention and Inventors

Canada Science and Technology Museum : This site links you to the various collections within the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
Edison After Forty : This listing includes Edison's Papers, book-length studies, children's books, and museums.
Edison Papers Web Site : The Edison Papers Web Site is a searchable database, based on the University Press of America's editions of Thomas Edison's papers, which detail the first 31 years of his life.
Hagley American Patent Models : The largest privately-owned collection of United States patent models in the world. Containing nearly 4,000 patent models and related documents, the collection spans America's Industrial Revolution.
Lighting a Revolution: A Bibliography of Lighting : A collection of books, articles, and web sites on the history and technology of electrical lighting.
National Inventors Hall of Fame : Web site for the National Inventors Hall of Fame, in Akron, Ohio. Features a collection of biographies of members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Powering a Generation of Change : This bibliography lists books, journal articles, and reports documenting the story of electrical power restructuring in North America.
Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) : The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) is dedicated to the historical study of technology and its relations with politics, economics, labor, business, the environment, public policy, science, and the arts.
The Office Museum : This commercial website engages in research on the history and evolution of offices, antique office machines and equipment, and business technology based on original documents and artifacts.
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office : The official web site of the USPTO has a searchable database. Patents issued between 1790 and 1976 are searchable only by patent number and current US classifications.
Yesterday's Office : This site contains articles on antique or redundant office technology and links to related sites.
Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota : CBI is dedicated to promoting study of the history of information technology and information processing and their impact on society.
Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers : A timetable of significant events in the history of computing, with product announcements and delivery dates from a variety of sources.
Computer Museum History Center (Silicon Valley) : The Computer Museum History Center is a non-profit entity dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computing history. It holds one of the largest collections of computing artifacts in the world.
Intel Museum (Santa Clara) : This museum documents the development and construction of computer chips by one of the leading manufacturers of chip technology.
Internet Archive : The Internet Archive is a non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in the collections.
Internet Histories : A collection of links about the history of the Internet, from the ISOC , the Internet Society, a non-governmental international organization, committed to global cooperation and coordination for the Internet.
Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley : "Making the Macintosh" is an online project documenting the history of the Macintosh computer. This project collects and publishes primary material on the Macintosh's development and early reception. It draws on the extensive holdings of the Stanford University Library's Department of Special Collections, the personal papers of engineers and technical writers involved in the Macintosh project, and interviews conducted for the project.
Discovering Lewis and Clark : This comprehensive website contains more than 1,400 pages, and is updated monthly with additional material. This website includes a nineteen-part synopsis of the expedition's story by historian Harry W. Fritz, illustrated with selections from the journals of the expedition, photographs, maps, animated graphics, moving pictures, and sound files.
Kansas State Historical Society: Lewis and Clark : This website provides the user with information about the history of the expedition in Kansas.
Lewis and Clark Expedition: Selected Resources : The Smithsonian Institution has created this directory of sites on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Lewis and Clark Across Missouri : The Geographic Resources Center at the Department of Geography, University of Missouri partnered with the Missouri State Archives to create this website offering campsite maps, photo-realistic images of important river landmarks, and animated virtual Missouri River travel to trace Lewis and Clark's expedition.
Lewis and Clark in North Dakota : Lewis and Clark in North Dakota is one of most informative websites available about the expedition. A highlight is the In North Dakota Link that includes personal profiles of the individuals involved in the expedition, background information about the sites that Lewis and Clark visited, an expedition chronology, a facts and trivia section, maps, and a bibliography.
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation Inc. : The mission of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation is to stimulate public appreciation of the Lewis and Clark Expedition's contributions to America's heritage, and to support education, research, development, and preservation of the Lewis and Clark experience. Their website includes a detailed history of the expedition with a bibliography. The site also includes a link to the The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation Library. The Library has about 800 book titles and 300 articles relating to the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The library also has maps, genealogical information, sound, and video recordings. Users can search the library's catalog online.
Lewis and Clark: Indiana Bicentennial Commission : This site outlines Indiana's important role in the expedition and lists events to commemorate the expedition.
Lewis and Clark: Mapping the West : This Smithsonian site reviews the cartographic work of the Corps of Discovery.
Monticello, The Home of Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson's West : This website has a special section on Lewis and Clark that includes an expedition timeline, bibliography, website links, and online study resources for teachers and students. This site is particularly recommended for users who are interested in researching the role that President Thomas Jefferson played in the expedition.
PBS Online: Lewis and Clark : This website is a companion resource to the Ken Burns film: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery and contains several special features that will appeal to users. It provides users with a search engine enables users to search the expedition journals by author, date, or year. It contains transcripts of unedited interviews with various experts and historians about their perspectives on the expedition. It also includes expedition timelines, maps, a bibliography, and related links.
Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America : This site provides a small sampling of primary materials (maps and journal entries) related to the Lewis and Clark expedition that are housed in the Library of Congress.
The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition : The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition website makes available for users the text of the celebrated Nebraska edition of the journals, edited by by Gary M. Moulton. Moulton's edition is considered to be the most accurate and inclusive version published. Currently, the site offers almost two hundred pages from volume 4. In the future, the site will provide access to the full set of journals, almost 5000 pages of primary source material. This site also includes a full text search engine.
Artificial Anatomy: Papier-Mâché Anatomical Models : Resources on Anatomy, Papier- Mâché, Preservation, and Trade Catalogs.
DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Museum of Medical Research (NIH) : Established in 1986 as a part of the NIH centennial observance, the Stetten Museum collects and exhibits biomedical research instruments and NIH memorabilia.
Human Radiation Experiments (DOE) : A website from the US Department of Energy offering a "roadmap" to the stories and records of the cold-war story of radiation research on human subjects.
Medical Antiques & Pre-1900 Antique Surgical Sets : From the Arbittier Museum of Medical History, examples of medical antiques, amputation, and surgical sets by some of the most famous makers of the 1800's. Of particular interest are those surgical antiques used in the Civil War. There is a section on pricing and valuation of early surgical sets and kits as well as extensive topics on antique medical collecting.
Medical Heritage Library : The Medical Heritage Library is a digital curation collaborative among some of the world’s leading medical libraries. The collection resides at the Internet Archive.
Medicine in the Americas, 1619-1914 : The Medicine in the Americas website provides access to a number of key primary historical documents that deal with a number of areas, such as women’s health, public health, and clinical works of enduring historical value. Currently, there are a total of eight works in the archive, and they include Clara Barton’s “The Red Cross of the Geneva Convention” from 1878 and L. Emmett Holt’s 1894 work “The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children’s Nurses”.
National Library of Medicine : National Library of Medicine home page, with links to a variety of sites on the Internet.
Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) : This database is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders authored and edited by Dr. Victor A. McKusick and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere, and developed for the World Wide Web by NCBI, the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
The Medical Heritage Library : The Medical Heritage Library (MHL) is a digital curation collaborative among some of the world’s leading medical libraries. The collection resides at the Internet Archive.
Access to Military Service and Pension Records : The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository for records of military personnel who have been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard.
Air University Library's Index to Military Periodicals : The Air University Library's Index to Military Periodicals is a subject index to significant articles, news items, and editorials from English language military and aeronautical periodicals. The Index contains citations since 1988 and is updated continuously. A comprehensive list of all journals covered by AULIMP since 1949 is available as the Historical Index of AULIMP titles.
Company of Military Historians : The web site for the journal with several useful links and color plates of uniforms.
Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms : Sets forth standard US military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States in both US joint and allied joint operations, as well as to encompass the Department of Defense as a whole.
Historic U.S. Government Publications from World War II : This Southern Methodist University Libraries site allows users to search or browse a collection of over 300 United States government documents produced during World War II.
Index to the Uniforms of the American Revolution : This site is provided by the Sons of the Revolution in the State of California and contains several images of American Revolutionary War uniforms.
Military Review - English Edition Archives : Archival collection of the professional journal of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (CAC) and the Command and General Staff College (CGSC).
Military Women Veterans : This site documents the contributions of American women to the Armed Forces of the United States.
Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800 : Papers of the War Department is a project of the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. This collection of more than 55,000 documents is in an online format with extensive and searchable metadata linked to digitized images of each document.
Price of Freedom: Americans at War : This online exhibition from the National Museum of American History presents a timeline of American military conflicts from the War of Independence through the War in Iraq, 2003. It also includes information on hundreds of artifacts related to America’s military history, along with learning resources for educators.
Redstone Hyper-media Historical Information : Designed by the MICOM Historical Office, this home page features the Redstone Arsenal Complex Chronological Highlights such as; The Pre-Missile Era (1941-1949) and Women at War: Redstone's WWII Female
United States Army Center of Military History : CMH Online is an information and education service provided by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.
Valley of the Shadow : The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) at the University of Virginia's Web page featuring Edward Ayers's material on the Great Valley in the Civil War.
Veterans History Project - Library of Congress : The Veterans History Project covers World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf wars. It includes all participants in those wars--men and women, civilian and military. It documents the contributions of civilian volunteers, support staff, and war industry workers as well as the experiences of military personnel from all ranks and all branches of service--the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and Merchant Marine.
War Times Journal : The War Times Journal is a free online magazine which covers all periods of military history and military science.
West Point in the Making of America : There are eight subject categories from this exhibition reading list on West Point graduates and their contributions to the nation in peace and war.
World War I Edition of Stars and Stripes - Library of Congress : From February 8, 1918, to June 13, 1919, by order of General John J. Pershing, the United States Army published a newspaper for its forces in France, The Stars and Stripes. This online collection, presented by the Serial and Government Publications Division of the Library of Congress, includes the complete seventy-one-week run of the newspaper's World War I edition.

Naval and Maritime History

Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology : The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology has been at the forefront of underwater archaeology for over 35 years. The ACUA serves as an international advisory body on issues relating to underwater archaeology, conservation, and submerged cultural resources management.It is working to educate scholars, governments, sport divers, and the general public about underwater archaeology and the preservation of underwater resources.
All Hands Magazine Archives : Each issue of this U. S. Navy bulletin and magazine (1922-2011) has been scanned and digitized in Adobe Acrobat format. Free access.
American Merchant Marine at War : The U.S. Maritime Service Veterans complied this collection of war service related topical links.
Council of American Maritime Museum : The Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM) is an organization dedicated to preserving North America's maritime history. The Members include museums, museum professionals, and scholars from United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Australia and Canada. CAMM works to promote high professional standards in the preservation and interpretation of maritime history. Our Members seek to convey and preserve this history through collections, sites, vessels, projects, exhibitions, and research.
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships : The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, commonly known as DANFS, is the foremost reference regarding U.S. naval vessels. Published in nine volumes (from 1959 to 1991), it gives histories for virtually every U.S. naval vessel.
Fast Attacks & Boomers: Submarines in the Cold War : Selections for further reading on the growth and development of the U.S. Nuclear Navy.
Historic Naval Ships Association : The purpose of the Historic Naval Ships Association is to facilitate the exchange of information and provide mutual support among those who are working hard to maintain their aging vessels physically and financially. The ships of HNSA are located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia. The ships are organized into three categories on the site: name of ship, type of ship, and location.
Index to Ships in Books -- Search Page : This index allows researchers to search the names of commercial and naval vessels that were published in a variety of books and serials. A bibliography of those printed resources is included.
International Congress of Maritime Museums : The International Congress of Maritime Museums is a professional guild of associations, organizations, and individuals in the maritime preservation field. Their website includes a news section that provides information about recently discovered wrecks, upcoming museum exhibits, and other developments in the field.
Maritime History Links on the Net : This comprehensive list covers a variety of subjects related to Maritime History.
Nautical Research Guild, Inc. : The Nautical Research Guild links researchers, collectors, and builders of the highest quality ship models. The Guild emphasizes learning about ships and maritime history through academic research, as applied and expressed in the process of ship model building and other artistic and academic endeavors.
Steamship Historical Society of America : The Steamship Historical Society (SSHSA) is an organization dedicated to preserving artifacts and memories from the steamship days of the past.
U.S. Naval Historical Center : The Naval Historical Center is the official history program of the Department of the Navy. The Center now includes a museum, art gallery, research library, archives, and curator as well as research and writing programs.
U.S. Naval Vessel Register : The Naval Vessel Register contains information on ships and service craft that comprise the official inventory of the U.S. Navy from the time of vessel authorization through its life cycle and disposal. It also includes ships that have been stricken but not disposed.
American Numismatic Society : Official website of the American Numismatic Society offers a list of online resources , including MANTIS , a searchable database of over 600,000 objects from the Society's collections of international coins, paper money, tokens, ‘primitive’ money, medals and decorations.
American Numismatics Association : Features information about ANA, a membership form, a link to ANA's ftp site, and links to an educational and museum directory. The FTP site includes press releases; ANA's library catalog; ANA's classification system; video list; and slide lists. The educational and museum directory features ANA's exhibits online; scholarship information; and convention updates.
Coins of Colonial and Early America : This University of Notre Dame site features discussions, descriptions and images of the coins and tokens used in Colonial and Confederation America based on examples in the Department of Special Collections. A companion project features Colonial and Confederation era paper currency.
Money - Past, Present & Future : Sources of information on monetary history, contemporary developments, and the prospects for electronic money.
National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History : The Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection (NNC) is America's collection of monetary and transactional objects. This diverse and expansive global collection contains objects that represent every inhabited continent and span more than three thousand years of human history.
U.S. Department of the Treasury : U.S. Department of Treasury's Home Page includes press releases and updates on new programs and seminars being offered by the Department.
Freeze Frame: Eadweard Muybridge’s Photography of Motion : Information on the collection, links, and readings on Muybridge and his work on locomotion.
George Eastman Museum: International Museum of Photography and Film : The George Eastman Museum collects and interprets images, films, literature, and equipment in the disciplines of photography and motion pictures and cares for the George Eastman legacy collections.
International Center of Photography : The International Center of Photography is a museum, a school and a center for photographers and photography, whose mission is to present photography's vital and central place in contemporary culture and to lead in interpretation issues central to its development.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection : Link to the "Collection Finder" page of the Library of Congress American Memory site.
LIFE Magazine photo archive hosted by Google : Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
Museum of Photographic Arts : The Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) is one of the first museum facilities in the United States designed exclusively to collect and present the world's finest examples photographic art.
National Stereoscopic Association : The association promotes the study, collection and use of stereographs, stereo cameras and related materials for collectors and students of stereoscopic history. There is a link to the Oliver Wendell Holmes Stereoscopic Research Library.
NYPL Digital : The New York Public Digital Library is a continually expanding collection of digitized images and text selected from throughout the Research Libraries' collections.
Stereoscopy : Stereoscopy.com provides information about stereoscopic imaging (3-D) for both amateurs and professionals.
The Daguerreian Society : The Daguerreian Society is an organization of individuals and institutions sharing a common interest in the art, history and practice of the daguerreotype.
UCR Arts : This museum features contemporary exhibitions, digital and web art online, and a vast historical photograph collection.
Building the Washington Metro : This site tells the story of the Washington Metro, a 103-mile rapid transit system serving Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia.
Center For Railroad Photography & Art : The center's focus is on the preservation and presentation of railroad-related photography and art.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum : This expansive website has an online library of 19th century pictures (more than 2,300), maps and descriptions of railroad construction and travel.
Great Northern Railway Historical Society : The Society works to preserve and promote the history of the Great Northern Railway, which was created in September 1889 from several predecessor railroads in Minnesota and eventually stretched from Lake Superior at Duluth and Minneapolis/St.Paul west through North Dakota, Montana and Northern Idaho to Washington State at Everett and Seattle.
National Railway Historical Society : Founded in 1935, the National Railway Historical Society has nearly 18,000 members and over 177 Chapters spread throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain. It is now the United States' largest rail enthusiast organization.
Railroad Maps, 1828-1900 : The maps presented here are a selection from the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division holdings, based on the cartobibliography, Railroad Maps of the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Original 19th-century Maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. This annotated list reveals the scope of the railroad map collection and highlights the development of railroad mapping in 19th-century America. Described are 623 maps chosen from more than 3,000 railroad maps and about 2,000 regional, state, and county maps, and other maps which show "internal improvements" of the past century.
Railroads and the Making of Modern America : This University of Nebraska project seeks to document and represent the rapid and far-reaching social effects of railroads and to explore the transformation of the United States to modern ideas, institutions, and practices in the nineteenth century. Railroads and the Making of Modern America seeks to use the digital medium to investigate, represent, and analyze this social change and document episodes of the railroad's social consequence.
Academic Info: The American West : Academic Info, an educational organization, created this directory of Internet resources on the history of the American West. This list covers a variety of subjects including Native Americans, women, religious history, the Gold Rush, Asian Americans, and railroads.
History of the American West, 1860-1920 : This site contains over 30,000 photographs, drawn from the holdings of the Western History and Genealogy Department at Denver Public Library. These photos illuminate many aspects of the history of the American West. Most of the photographs were taken between 1860 and 1920. They illustrate Colorado towns and landscape, document the place of mining in the history of Colorado and the West, and show the lives of Native Americans from more than forty tribes living west of the Mississippi River.
New Perspectives on the West : This is the companion website to the Ken Burns documentary series, the West. This site contains selected documentary materials, archival images and commentary, as well as links to background information and other resources.
The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 : This Library of Congress site consists of 15,000 pages of original historical material documenting the land, peoples, exploration, and transformation of the trans-Appalachian West from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. The collection is drawn from the holdings of the University of Chicago Library and the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky
The Oregon Territory and its Pioneers : This website focuses on the pioneers of the Oregon Territory up to and including 1855...The first section is called THE SETTLING OF OREGON and is a compilation of information [including pioneer lists by year of emigration] extracted from a variety of sources. The second section lists the UPDATES that are in progress. The third section is devoted to RESEARCHING THE PIONEERS and provides links to research and historic sites that may be of interest."
The Oregon Trail : This website is a comprehensive source of information about the historic Oregon Trail. It includes primary source documents such as Trail diaries and memoirs. The site was created by Prof. Mike Trinklein and Steve Boettcher, creators of The Oregon Trail, the award-winning documentary film which aired nationally on PBS.
Canadian Centre for Architecture CCA Library: Special Collections Trade Catalogues : Approximately 5,600 trade catalogues documenting building technology and construction methods from the late eighteenth century to the present. Core of the collection formed through acquisition of the relevant portions of the Franklin Institute trade catalogue collection. Coverage is broad and includes such categories as concrete and lumber, metalwork and woodwork, flooring, heating and insulation, plumbing and electricity, windows and roofing.
Columbia University. Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library : The American collection is one of the most extensive in existence. It begins with the first pertinent book to be published in the colonies, Abraham Swan's British Architect (Philadelphia, 1775), and includes a large number of titles listed in H.R. Hitchcock's basic bibliography, American Architectural Books. In the seventies and eighties the scope of the American collection was expanded to include printed source materials not previously collected. These include early trade catalogs from the manufacturers of building products (1840-1950).
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Library Reference Collection : There are over 4,500 trade catalogs in the Cooper-Hewitt Library collection, some dating from the 17th century.
Corning Museum of Glass. Rakow Research Library : The Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library of The Corning Museum of Glass has a wide-ranging collection including books, magazines, trade and auction catalogues, personal and corporate archives, videotapes, microforms, sound recordings, drawings, prints, photographs, and slides. Its mission is to acquire and preserve all informational resources on the art, history and early science and technology of glass, in all languages and all formats.
D'Arcy Collection : The D'Arcy Collection of the Communications Library of the University of Illinois is a collection of almost two million original advertisements published between 1890 and 1970. The collection, which was donated by the D'Arcy, MacManus & Masius advertising agency (now D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles) in 1983, is a rich source of research information on products advertised by many agencies. While the vast majority of these advertisements appeared in newspapers, magazines and trade journals, there are a few in other forms such as brochures, signs, and programs. Most of the clippings advertise standard consumer products, but there are a number of obsolete categories such as spats, bathing shoes, and Prohibition.
Digital Collections & Trade Catalogs from the Indiana Historical Society : This collection concentrates on catalogs from businesses that were either headquartered in Indiana or had a substantial presence in the state. Items in this collection date from the 1840s through the 1990s. The catalogs document the wide range of commodities that have come out of Indiana.
Hagley Museum and Library : The library houses an important collection of books, pamphlets, trade catalogs, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, and audiovisual materials documenting the history of American business and technology. Hagley's main strength is in the Middle Atlantic region, but the scope of collecting includes business organizations and companies with national and international impact.
Instruments for Science, 1800-1914: Scientific Trade Catalogs in Smithsonian Collections : Digital collection of scientific instrument trade catalogs
John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History : The Ad*Access Project presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II. The advertisements are from the J. Walter Thompson Company Competitive Advertisements Collection of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History in Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Marketing in the Modern Era : Marketing in the Modern Era: Trade Catalogs and the Rise of 19th-Century American Advertising: an online exhibit at the Baker Library at Harvard University.
National Museum of American History Library Trade Literature Collection : This collection contains more than 460,000 catalogs, technical manuals, advertising brochures, price lists, company histories and related materials representing over 36,000 companies.
National Museum of American History -- Archives Center, Warshaw Collection of Business Americana : The National Museum of American History purchased the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, ca. 1724-1977 in 1967. The collection was assembled by Isadore Warshaw and represents the largest advertising ephemera collection in the United States, occupying more than 1,020 cubic feet of storage space. Organization, re-housing, and description of the Warshaw Collection are a long-term project. Most portions of the collection are open to researchers in the Archives Center.
New Jersey Trade and Manufacturers' Catalogs : Housed in Special Collections and University Archives, the Rutgers University Libraries collection of New Jersey trade and manufacturers catalogs represents part of the University's effort "to collect, preserve and make available for research, primary and secondary materials in various formats, documenting all aspects of New Jersey's history, from its founding to the present."
Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology : Particularly strong collections within the OHA include the areas of medical illustration, including anatomical drawings and paintings, photographs, and photomicrographs; reconstructive surgery and prosthetics; tropical and infectious disease research; trade literature and advertisements; medical technology and battlefield surgery from the Civil War through to the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Seed Catalogs from the Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collection : The Smithsonian Libraries has a unique trade catalog collection that includes about 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present, documenting the history of the seed and agricultural implement business in the United States, as well as providing a history of botany and plant research such as the introduction of plant varieties into the US. Additionally, the seed trade catalogs are a window into the history of graphic arts in advertising, and a social history, through the text and illustrations, showing changing fashions in flowers and vegetables.
Sewing Machine Galleries : Created by David and Lin Best, this site comprises photographs of over 130 sewing machines from their collection, together with information about the manufacturers that produced them.
Sewing Machines: Historical Trade Literature in Smithsonian Institution Collections : This guide illustrates the range of materials published by and about sewing machine companies in the United States, starting in the 1840s. Sewing machine catalogs and other industry materials are just one portion of the remarkable collections of manufacturers' trade literature held in the libraries, archives and curatorial units of the Smithsonian Institution.
Shedding Light on New York: Edward F. Caldwell & Co. : The E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, contains more than 50,000 images consisting of approximately 37,000 black & white photographs and 13,000 original design drawings of lighting fixtures and other fine metal objects that they produced from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries.
The Virtual Laboratory (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) : The digital library of the Virtual Library contains scans of historical books, journals, laboratory notebooks and instrument catalogues. Furthermore, it provides bibliographical information based on tables of contents (overview) and on existing personal bibliographies which have been checked for consistency. Every item can be acessed by author, title, year or word contained in the title.
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Special Collections. Romaine Trade Catalog Collection : Lawrence B. Romaine (1900-1967) was an antiquarian book dealer, who bought and sold rare books, manuscripts, trade catalogs, and other Americana. Romaine was recognized as the leading expert in the U.S. on trade catalogs, and was the author of A Guide to American Trade Catalogs, 1774-1900 (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1960), the standard reference work in this field. Romaine spent approximately 30 years collecting over 41,000 trade catalogs from the 19th and early 20th centuries, on every imaginable product from agricultural implements, clothes, medical and surgical instruments to weathervanes and windmills. The bulk of his collection focused on machines, tools, engines and other hardware used in agriculture and manufacturing industries.
University of Delaware Trade Catalogs: An online exhibition : The University of Delaware Library Special Collections Department houses an extensive collection of trade catalogs and advertising ephemera produced in the United States from the middle of the eighteenth century until the present day. The trade catalog collection also complements the Special Collections Department's traditional strengths in the history of horticulture, science and technology, printing and publishing, and the book arts. Companies selling printing supplies, agricultural implements and nursery stock, type founders, publishing companies, and booksellers are particularly well-represented as are the catalogs of Delaware businesses.
Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library : The National Art Library holds numerous examples of trade catalogues within its collections. Some items entered the NAL during the 19th century, and both current and retrospective examples of trade catalogues have been added to the collections throughout the 20th century. Since 1983 the policy has been to actively collect both current and retrospective examples of trade literature in areas broadly in line with the research interests of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Winterthur Museum Library : WinterCat is the Winterthur Library's online catalogue and includes nearly 60,000 bibliographic records, representing the holdings of the four collections that constitute the Winterthur Library. Records for imprints, periodicals, rare printed materials, manuscript and ephemera holdings, photographs, and archival resources are all in one database, which researchers can use to determine the library's holdings on any given topic, person, or organization through one search. WinterCat features hyperlinks to manuscript finding aids and selected images.
Women Working, 1800-1930: trade catalogs : To illustrate the world of women working, the Open Collections Program of Harvard University Library has digitized a group of trade catalogs. These colorful works illustrate the dramatic changes that were taking place between 1870 and 1930 in the home, in the workplace, and in the minds of retailers and manufacturers.
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) : This site contains approximately two million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates.
Library of Congress Map Collection 1500-2004 : The Library of Congress' map collection contains the topical areas of cities and towns, conservation and environment, discovery and exploration, cultural landscapes, military battles and campaigns, as well as transportation and communication.
Mapping History: American History : The maps cover a variety of historical topics from pre-1500 Native American culture, to the Civil War and Reconstruction, to 20th century health. Some of these maps are interactive.
National Map Small-Scale Collection : The site from the U.S. Geological Survey offers a collection of small-scale datasets available for free download, along with hundreds of printable reference maps developed as part of the 1997-2014 edition of the National Atlas.
University of Georgia Libraries Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscripts : The collection encompasses 500 years including maps on Georgia, the New World, the Colonial America, the revolutionary America, the revolutionary Georgia, the Union and expansion, the American Civil War, the frontier to the new South, Savannah and the coast, and transportation.
University of Illinois Historical Maps Online : These maps mainly focus from 1650 to 1994 on North America and the Northwest Territory, Maps of the Midwest, Illinois and Champaign County, and the Warner & Beers Atlas of 1876.
University of Texas at Austin's Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection : This collection contains maps arranged by state, city, and topical. Many of the maps are from the late 1700s through the early 1900s.
US History by Online Highways : The topical maps include the areas of early America, Colonial Period, Revolutionary America, young republic, and election maps of the early 1900s.

World's Fairs and Expositions

A Century of Progress: The 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair : The John Crerar Library (which is now part of the University of Chicago Libraries) collected various official publications, press releases, guidebooks, and other related materials pertaining to this world exposition. Approximately 350 of those collected items are now available on this website. The collection may be browsed by publication author, publication title, and the general subject of each publication.
Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition Centennial : This University of Washington Libraries digital collection contains more than 1200 photographs of the 1909 fair held on the grounds of the University of Washington, depicting buildings, grounds, entertainment and exotic attractions.
Donald G. Larson Collection on International Expositions and Fairs, 1851-1940 : The Donald G. Larson Collection at Cal-State Fresno, consists of approximately 1,600 books and more than 6,500 pamphlets, postcard, sheet music, and other materials.
ExpoMuseum : ExpoMuseum was first created as a web site in 1998 by Urso S. A. Chappell, and is maintained by him.The site pays tribute to the past, present, and future of these immensely popular expositions, and also includes a number of fun features, such as a discussion area and a special section dedicated to the architecture of these places.
Hyper-text Thesis on the World's Columbian Exposition : A Masters thesis, by Julie K. Rose, M.A. English, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA on the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, in Chicago, Illinois, which features a virtual tour of the Fair and offers analysis of social and cultural importance of the World's Columbian Exposition.
Paris 1900 - The Exhibit of American Negroes : The Exhibit of American Negroes is a reconstruction of highlights from an exhibit of the same name put together by W. E. B. DuBois, Thomas Calloway and the Historic Black Colleges for the Paris 1900 International Exposition.
Progress Made Visible: American World's Fairs and Expositions : The Special Collections Department of the University of Delaware Library holds a wide variety of primary source materials relating to the World's Fairs and Expositions held in the United States between 1876 and 1939.
Revisiting World's Fairs and International Expositions: A Selected Bibliography, 1992 - 1999 : This Smithsonian Institution Library bibliography supplements Bridget Burke's bibliography, "World's Fairs and International Expositions: Selected References 1987-1993," which was published as part of Fair Representations: World's Fairs and the Modern World, edited by Robert Rydell and Nancy Gwinn. It focuses on secondary materials that were published between 1992 and mid-summer 1999, but also includes some entries for materials prior to 1992 that were not included in the Burke's bibliography.
The 1904 World's Fair: Looking Back at Looking Forward : An online exhibition in association with the Missouri Historical Society's 2004 centennial celebration of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
The History of World Expositions : An EXPO 2000 resource on twenty previous World's Fairs and Expositions from 1851 to 2000.
The Iconography of Hope: The 1939-40 New York World's Fair : Created by John C. Barans, this site features historical information and digitized photographs chronicling the 1939-40 New York World's Fair.

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The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

In this Book

The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

Zachary M. Schrag
Published by: Princeton University Press
Series: Skills for Scholars
View Citation

The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian's craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries. Zachary Schrag begins by explaining how to ask good questions and then guides readers step-by-step through all phases of historical research, from narrowing a topic and locating sources to taking notes, crafting a narrative, and connecting one's work to existing scholarship. He shows how researchers extract knowledge from the widest range of sources, such as government documents, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, images, interviews, and datasets. He demonstrates how to use archives and libraries, read sources critically, present claims supported by evidence, tell compelling stories, and much more. Featuring a wealth of examples that illustrate the methods used by seasoned experts, The Princeton Guide to Historical Research reveals that, however varied the subject matter and sources, historians share basic tools in the quest to understand people and the choices they made.

Offers practical step-by-step guidance on how to do historical research, taking readers from initial questions to final publication
Connects new digital technologies to the traditional skills of the historian
Draws on hundreds of examples from a broad range of historical topics and approaches
Shares tips for researchers at every skill level

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
Introduction: History Is for Everyone
Part I. Definitions
Chapter 1. Defining History
Chapter 2. Historians' Ethics
Part II. Questions
Chapter 3. Asking Questions
Chapter 4. Research Design
Part III. Sources
Chapter 5. Sources: An Introduction
pp. 103-119
Chapter 6. Texts as Sources
pp. 120-153
Chapter 7. Sources beyond Traditional Texts
pp. 154-171
Chapter 8. Finding Sources
pp. 172-185
Chapter 9. Archival Research
pp. 186-207
Chapter 10. Interpreting Sources
pp. 208-224
Part IV. Projects
Chapter 11. Project Management
pp. 227-245
Chapter 12. Taking Notes
pp. 246-275
Chapter 13. Organization
pp. 276-308
Part V. Stories
Chapter 14. Storytelling
pp. 311-340
Chapter 15. Style
pp. 341-376
Chapter 16. Publication
pp. 377-400
Acknowledgments
pp. 401-402
pp. 403-414

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Exploring Special Collections at Harvard

America: History and Life (1955- ) includes books, book chapters, journal art icles, and book reviews for North American history.

Historical Abstracts (1954- ) includes books, book chapters, journal articles (but not book reviews) for non-North American history, 1450-date.

Oxford Bibliographies Online are literature guides in several humanities and social sciences areas. Oxford Bibliographies by subject

When you have an old reference, use it to find more recent works with the Web of Science Citation Indexes .

If you find an online bibliography (Search in Google, say, "Civil War" Medicine Bibliography), run interesting books or articles through the Web of Science [Covers: science, 1900- ; social science, 1900- ; arts/humanities, 1975- .] Cited Reference Search . This search gives you more recent articles (or books, 2005- ) citing a particular book or article, and which may be available via HOLLIS.

Open Cited Reference Search. Put your author in the first box (initials only): Harris E. Specify the work with its date, not its title (Titles are abbreviated variously). Select the pertinent records, which are largely unordered, in the results screen. Searching a common name will yield numerous irrelevant results. Finish search. A guide is available: Searching the Citation Indexes (Web of Science) .

Several online collections of secondary sources are full text searchable. Records for articles in them are in HOLLIS, but if you have a specific topic, say a person’s name or organization, these databases may give you online books or articles containing them.

ACLS Humanities E-Book Project includes over 2200 largely history titles. Largely 1950-1999, some earlier, later. Browsable and searchable by LC Subject Heading.

Arts & Humanities Full Text offers about 500 journals and magazines

Cambridge University Press . To search within specific subjects, start from "Browse subjects" (an option in the top nav bar). If you hit a paywall, search for the title in HOLLIS; it's likely that Harvard has licensed the item via a different platform.

JSTOR offers full-text of the full runs of scholarly journals from a range of disciplines. Harvard's subscription does not include the JSTOR books. There is often a "moving wall" excluding recent issues. Advanced search is best

Latin American History Collection eBooks offers full text of monographs on Latin American history, mostly published in Spain

CAIRN (2001- ) is a searchable collection of French-language ejournals for the humanities and social sciences.

Periodicals Archive Online contains several hundred English and Western European language journals from their inceptions to 1995 or 2005. Limit to historical journals by adjusting Journal Subject(s) menu to History (General) or History (various regional categories), although this will exclude historical articles in non-history journals

Project Muse offers full-text of scholarly journals and books. Primarily humanities and social sciences.

UPSO: University Press Scholarship Online

Torrossa: Casalini offers full text of books and journals in humanities and social sciences from Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese publishers.

Digitalia Française is a collection of French language ebooks.

Digitalia Catalan , Digitalia Hispanica and Digitalia Portuguesa are e-book collections.

L'Harmatheque offers ebooks, articles, videos, and audio recordings in the humanities and social sciences from a variety of French publishing imprints. Contains over 26,000 ebooks, 17,000 articles, 400 films, and 600 audio files. At least 2,300 new titles are added to the collection annually.

Zentrales Verzeichnis Digitalisierter Drucke (ZVDD) is the German national portal for digitized scholarly imprints. Searches easily limited by century of publication.

Leo S. Olschki eBooks Collection: Post 2000 (2000-2010) includes over 1,000 monographs and conference proceedings published by Leo S.Olschki covering humanities and social sciences. Strongest in Italian literature, history, and philosophy.

Bibliographies

Dissertations

Main General Sources

Other General Sources and Special Topics

Early Modern

By Country/Region

Look for specialized subject bibliographies which may include secondary sources in the HOLLIS Catalog : Search, e.g., < "science and state" [Keyword search] AND bibliography [Subject Keyword search] > on Advanced Search screen or in WorldCat .

Finding Dissertations and Theses

Periodical Indexes

America: History and Life (1955- ) includes books, book chapters, journal art icles, and book reviews.

Historical Abstracts (1954- ) includes books, book chapters, journal articles (but not book reviews) for non-North American history, 1450-date.

Web of Science Citation Indexes allow citation searching, that is, starting with an article of interest and finding more recent articles that have cited it. Covers: science, 1900- ; social science, 1900- ; arts/humanities, 1975- . More information .

JSTOR offers full-text of complete runs (up to about 5 years ago) of over 1900 journals. Allows simultaneous or individual searching, full-text searching optional, of many historical journals. Included journals are listed under discipline on the Advanced Search page. Harvard does not have access to the JSTOR full text books.

Periodicals Index Online (PIO) indexes over 5500 English and Western European language journals from their inceptions to 1995. Includes 218 journals in American history and 840 journals in world history . Also numerous journals in related subjects. Limit to historical journals by adjusting Journal Subject(s) menu to History (General) or History (The Americas), although this will exclude historical articles in non-history journal s. Includes book reviews. PIO searches full text Periodicals Archive Online (PAO)which contains a, roughly 700 journal subset of the journals in PIO. PAO extends to 2000, and to 2005 for recently added journals.

Bibliographie internationale de la demographie historique (1978- ) offers references with brief annotations arranged by subject classification, with author, chronological, and geographical indexes. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC HB871.B52x

C.R.I.S.: the combined retrospective index set to journals in history (1838 -1974) indexes historical articles in over 900 journals. World history in vols. 1-4; United States history in vols. 5-9; author index in vols. 10-11. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC D20.Z99 C65 1977x Library has: 11 v.

Current bibliography of urban history (1974- ) is published in Urban history (1992- ) and previously in Urban history yearbook (1974-91) . LOCATION: Loeb Design: Per LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC HT101.U675 Current Issues: Periodicals Reading Room Stacks LOCATION: Loeb Design: NAC 210g85 Ur 1 1974-79 (Urban history yearbook ) LOCATION: Widener: Soc 574.143.30 (Urban history yearbook )

Historische Bibliographie (1986- ) covers the Ancient world through twentieth century. Largely European: small section for Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Includes monographs, journal articles, and articles in collective works. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC D20.Z99 H575x LOCATION: Widener: XVTS 38 CD-ROM, 1990-96

International bibliography of historical sciences (1926- ) is a classified, selected bibliography of historical works, including book reviews, on history, broadly defined. Volume (15) for 1940-1946 has not appeared. LOCATION: Widener: RR 3601.22 Latest 5 years WID-LC D20.Z99 I58x Earlier

JSTOR allows simultaneous or individual searching, full-text searching optional, of several historical journals from their inceptions to about 5 years ago. JSTOR provides a list of included History journals.

Mariner's mirror bibliography (1983- ) lists books and articles on maritime history. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC VK145.Z99 M37x

International Medieval Bibliography .

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index .

Iter Bibliography covers Medieval and Renaissance studies literature, including journal articles (some since 1794), essays, books, and dissertations.

Bibliographie annuelle du moyen-âge tardif , 1991- .

Medioevo latino , 1980- . Medioevo latino (CD-ROM version).

Index of Medieval manuscripts allows location of references to specific medieval manuscripts in secondary works.

Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte. Beiheft, Literaturbericht (1972- ) includes general as well as religious history. LOCATION: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. Z7830.A7 LOCATION: Widener: C 7525.14.5 LOCATION: Widener: C 7525.14.6

Bibliografia italiana di studi sull'umanesimo ed il Rinascimento (1989- ). Bibliographies for 1985-88 were published in the journal, Rinascimento , 2nd ser. vols. 26-29. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DG533.Z99 B53x LOCATION: Widener: Ital 370.77 ( Rinascimento )

Bibliographie internationale de l'Humanisme et de la Renaissance (1965- ) is an annual bibliography of books and articles on all aspects of the 15th and 16th centuries. There is about a 4 year delay in publication. Print version: LOCATION: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. D228.B52 LOCATION: Fine Arts: RFA 246.8 LOCATION: Widener: H 680.7 .

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Journals Bibliography contains over 100,000 records for periodical articles in over 200 journals dating 1700 to the present. Includes book reviews.

Literature of the Renaissance (1953-1968) emphasizes literature but with general and historical material as well. Subject classification with index of proper names. LOCATION: Widener: Lit 305.50 (1953-1968 incomplete)

Continues Recent literature of the Renaissance. In: Studies in Philology (April issue), 1939-53. LOCATION: Lamont: Periodicals LOCATION: Widener: Philol 344.5

Eighteenth century , 1975- . LOCATION: Widener: RR 3603.8 Latest WID-LC CB411.E333x Earlier

Continues: Eighteenth century: A current bibliography. In: Philological quarterly , 1926-1974. LOCATION: Lamont: Periodicals LOCATION: Widener: Philol 346.6 LOCATION: Widener: Philol 346.6.2 Cumulated in: English literature, 1660-1800; a bibliography of modern studies. LOCATION: Child Memorial: ChM 1003.12.5 Library has: v.1-4 LOCATION: Lamont: REF.ROOM PR83.Z99 E53x 1950 Library has: 6 v. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC PR437.Z99 E53x Library has: 6 v. LOCATION: Widener: 10441.474 Library has: v.1-2; 1926-50

Bibliographie zur Zeitgeschichte (1953-2009) covers twentieth century world history, but focus is strongly on Germany and the World Wars in Europe. LOCATION: History Dept: Ordered--currently received LOCATION: Law School: ILS D 410.V5 Suppl. 1954- LOCATION: Widener: HP1.4 v.1-30 HP144.2 v.31-36 LOCATION: WID-LC D421.Z99B53x v.37-

Cumulated in: Bibliographie zur Zeitgeschichte , 1953-1980. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC D421.Z99 B52 x, 1982 Library has: 5 v. v. 4 Supplement, -1989 v. 5 Supplement, -1995

Scandinavia

UK/Commonwealth

Latin America

Middle East

United States

Africa-Wide: NiPAD (NISC) (19th century- ) includes 40 African studies databases

For more sources see Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Africa

Bibliography of Asian Studies (1971- ) indexes humanities and social sciences literature on East, Southeast, and South Asia. Monographs published since 1992 are not included.

More indexes in: East Asian Studies Research Guide: 4. Journal Literature Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on South and Southeast Asia

See also the reference guides listed under Conducting Research on the Harvard Yenching website .

European National Historical Bibliographies

Bibliographie annuelle de l'histoire de France du cinqième siècle à ... (1953- ) is a classified index to French historical writings. LOCATION: Widener: RR 3731.46 Latest 10 years WID-LC DC38.Z99B53x Earlier

Coverage has changed: Volumes for 1953-1963 cover "cinqième siècle à 1939". Volumes for 1964-1974 cover "cinqième siècle à 1945". Volumes for 1975-current cover "cinqième siècle à 1958". For earlier articles see: Repertoire bibliographique de l'histoire de France . LOCATION: Widener: RR 3731.45 Library has: 1-6, 1920-1931 Repertoire methodique de l'histoire moderne et contemporaine de la France . LOCATION: Widener: RR 3731.43 Library has: 1898-1912 Bibliographie des travaux publies de 1866 a 1897 sur l'histoire de la France de 1500 à 1789 , by E. Saulnier. LOCATION: Widener: RR 3731.42 Library has: v. 1-2 in 1 Bibliographie des travaux publies de 1866 a 1897 sur l'histoire de la France depuis 1789 , by P. Caron. LOCATION: Microforms (Lamont): Harvard Depository Film W 16971 LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository XP 6 LOCATION: Widener: RR 3731.42.5

Bibliographie en langue francaise d'histoire du droit (1957- ) is a bibliography of books and periodical articles on French social history from 987 to 1875. LOCATION: Law School: FRA 020 LEP 1960-94 LOCATION: Widener: Fr 55.102 .

Bibliographie générale des travaux historiques et archéologiques: publiés par les sociétés savantes de la France . Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1885-1918. 6 v. Google Books (v 2 & 4 only) Full text in Hathi Trust (6 v.) Location : Widener WID-LC DC17.Z99 L37 1888x --Contents : t. 1. Ain-Gironde -- t. 2. Hérault-Haute-Savoie -- t. 3. Seine: Paris -- t. 4. Seine: Paris. Seine-et-Marne-Yonne. Colonies. Instituts francais à l’étranger -- t. 5. Supplement. Ain-Savoie (Haute-) -- t. 6. Supplement. Seine: Paris. Seine-et-Marne-Yonne. Colonies. Instituts français à l’étranger. Index des volumes analysés dans les tomes I à VI. Vols. 1-4 cover the literature published to the year 1885; v. 5-6, 1886-1900.

Continued by: Bibliographie générale des travaux historiques et archéologiques publiés par les sociétés savantes de la France: période 1910-1940 , by René Gandilhon and Charles Samaran. Paris: Impr. nationale, 1944-1961. 5 v. Google Books v. 2 only Full text in Hathi Trust (5 v.) Widener | Harvard Depository HOLLIS Record

Bibliographie zur Zeitgeschichte (1953- ) covers twentieth century world history, but focus is strongly on Germany and the World Wars in Europe. LOCATION: History Dept: Ordered--currently received LOCATION: Law School: ILS D 410.V5 Suppl. 1954- LOCATION: Widener: HP1.4 v.1-30 HP144.2 v.31-36 WID-LC D421.Z99B53x v.37-

Cumulated in: Bibliographie zur Zeitgeschichte , 1953-1980. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC D421.Z99 B52 x, 1982 Library has: 3 v. Available online from 1996 to present . Adjust the menu of one field to Bibliogr. z. Zeitgesch. About the Bibliographie zur Zeitgeschichte . Note some of the links in this article do not work

Jahresberichte für deutsche geschichte (1925-40, 1949- ) is a list of new publications on German history. Covers Antiquity through World War II. The online version of Jahresberichte für deutsche Geschichte includes from 1974 forward. Issues from 1925-1938 are also available online . LOCATION: Widener: Ger 55.64.15

Continues: Jahresberichte der Geschichtswissenschaft , 1878-1913. LOCATION: Microforms (Lamont): Film SC 416 Microfilm. 1.-36. Jahrg. (1878-1913) LOCATION: Widener: H 8.78.3 About the Jahresberichte für deutsche geschichte .

Writings on Irish history (1984- ) lists citations by author under major chronological periods. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DA910.Z99.W75x (1984- ) LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DA910.Z99 C85 1986x (1984: with addenda from 1973-84) LOCATION: Microforms (Lamont): Microfiche S 407 (1979-82)

Bibliografia storica nazionale , 1939- HOLLIS Record Print 1939-1999, Online 2000-2008.

Bibliografia anual de historia de Portugal: da prehistoria a 1974 . LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DP538.Z99 B53x (1989-91)

Svensk historisk bibliografi (1977- ; strongest 1994- ) indexes monographs and collections, articles in periodicals and collections, and book reviews. An English version is available.

ABSEES (American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies) (Late 1980s-)

European Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (EBSEES), 1991-2007.

Continues: European bibliography of Soviet, East European and Slavonic studies . Paris: Editions de l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Institut d'études slaves. Fung Library | Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies | DJK 9.Z99 E97 x Widener | WID-LC | DJK 9.Z99 E97x

Bibliografía española de revistas científicas de ciencias sociales y humanidades (1995- ) is a CD-ROM LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository

Continues: Indice espanol de humanidades. Serie B, Ciencias historicas , 1989-1997. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC D20.Z99 I53x Which continues: Indice espanol de humanidades , 1976-88. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC AS1.I5

Indice historico espanol , 1953- . LOCATION: History Dept: Hist 44.200 LOCATION: Widener: RR3761.6 Latest 5 years WID-LC DP66.Z99 I53x Earlier Online version

For earlier articles see:

Fuentes de la historia espanola e hispanoamericana: ensayo de bibliografia sistematica de impresos y manuscritos que ilustran la historia politica de Espana y sus antiguas provincias de ultramar , by B. Sanchez Alonso. 1952. LOCATION: History Dept: Hist 1300.507 Library has: 3 v. LOCATION: Widener: RR 3761. 4 Library has: 3 v. in 2

UK and Commonwealth

Bibliography of British and Irish History is a comprehensive bibliography of books and periodical articles on British and British colonial history. Most historical society publications were excluded. Includes Writings on British history (1901-1974; Widener: WID-LC DA30.Z99 W75x) but excludes its book reviews (1901-1947). More information from Institute of Historical Research and Royal Historical Society .

Index to journal articles on Australian history for 1979 [-1988]. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DU110.Z99 C75 x 1981, etc. LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository DU110.Z99 C74 x, 1981 (for 1974-78) LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository DU110.Z99 H63x (through 1973)

Victorian Database Online (1945- ) emphasizes literature but also covers other aspects of Victorian culture and society in Britain and in the colonies where publications concern political/administrative subjects or relationships with Great Britain. Covers approx. 1830-1914. Includes books, articles, and book reviews.

In printed form: Cumulative bibliography of Victorian studies , 1985-99 LOCATION: Widener: RR 3703.19.25.1 Which continues: A Comprehensive bibliography of Victorian studies , 1970-84. LOCATION: Widener: RR 3703.19.25.05 Library has: 3 v.

Victorian bibliography (1932- ) is a selective, classified bibliography, with author and subject index, on all aspects of the Victorian period. Published in the journal Victorian studies , 1958- . LOCATION: Widener: Br 22.5 Current Issues: Periodicals Reading Room

Cumulated in: Bibliographies of studies in Victorian literature , 1932-1984: LOCATION: Child Memorial: ChM 1047.1 [1945-54] LOCATION: Lamont: PR731.Z99 T4x [1932-44] LOCATION: Widener: 10441.350 [1932-44] LOCATION: Widener: RR 3115.26 [1932-84]

Handbook of Latin American studies (1936- ) is a comprehensive annotated bibliography. Not every subject occurs in each volume. Since 1963, social science and humanities are issued in alternate years. A topical article is included in each volume. Also available in print: LOCATION: Gutman Education: Z1605.I123 1963-1971 LOCATION: Lamont: REF.ROOM F1408.Z99 H23x Latest fifteen years only LOCATION: Tozzer: REF F 1401.Z99 H3 1936- . LOCATION: Widener: RR3653.4 Latest ten years only LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC F1408.Z99 H36x Earlier

HAPI, Hispanic American periodicals index (1970- ) indexes most Latin American periodicals in full, and articles on Latin America and U. S. Hispanics from periodicals worldwide. Includes book reviews. Also available in print: LOCATION: Tozzer: REF F 1408.H3 LOCATION: Widener: RR 663.219 & 663.221.

For more sources see Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Latin America

Index Islamicus (1906- ) indexes publications in European languages on all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world. It covers journals, series, conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works, and book reviews.

For earlier and supplementary material: Index Islamicus, 1665-1905: a bibliography of articles on Islamic subjects in periodicals and other collective publications , by W. H. Behn. LOCATION: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. DS44.I36 LOCATION: Fine Arts: Reading Room RFA31.60 LOCATION: Gibb Islamic: DS35.6.Z99 I518 x, 1989 LOCATION: Law School: Islamic Reference DS 44.Z99 I525x 1989 LOCATION: Widener: RR 4881.10.9

Index Islamicus supplement 1665-1980. Bio-bibliographical supplement to Index Islamicus , by W. H. Behn, 1665-1980; 2 pts. LOCATION: Fine Arts: Reading Room RFA31.60.7 LOCATION: Gibb Islamic: DS35.6.Z99 B45 1995x LOCATION: Law School: Islamic Reference DS 44.Z99 I5252x 1995 LOCATION: Widener: RR 4881.10.5

America: History and Life (1955- ) includes books, book chapters, journal articles, and book reviews.

Bibliography of American historical societies (the United States and the dominion of Canada) gives contents of their proceedings and other publications with a subject index. HathiTrust Version HOLLIS Record

Classified bibliography of the periodical literature of the trans-Mississippi West (1811-1957). Classified by subject with author index. No subject index. LOCATION: Widener: Soc 501.461 vol.19 LOCATION: Widener: Soc 501.461 vol.26 A supplement (1957-67), 1970

Cumulated magazine subject index (1907-1949) indexes periodicals not included in other indexes. Good for history, especially local history, outdoor subjects, library science (1918-49), and fine arts. Arranged by subject, except for literary works by major authors, which are listed by author. Minor literary works are omitted. LOCATION: Widener: RR 663. 3.5 F Library has: 2 v.

Periodical source index (1986- ) indexes genealogical periodicals. LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC CS1.P47 (1986-1997)

Retrospective edition: Periodical source index, 1847-1985 covers the United States (fiche 1-20), non-U.S. (fiche 21-23), and families (fiche 24-40). Location : Microforms (Lamont) Microfiche W 5296 Location : Widener WID-LC CS9.Z99 P47 1988x (vol. 17 only)

Writings on American history (1902-1990) is a classified bibliography of books (through 1973 only) and articles (book reviews included through 1940). Author, title, and subject indexes. None issued for 1904-1905 and 1941-1947. There is a cumulative index for 1902-1940. Canada was included through 1935. The years 1962-1973 are cumulated in 4 v. Note the lists of periodicals cited for coverage. Contains many items not in America, History and Life, especially those appearing in local publications. HOLLIS Record HathiTrust Version (Full text 1902-1990)

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URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/history

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

History of the Book

Using archives & manuscripts This link opens in a new window
Finding primary sources
Journals and databases
Organizations and programs
Resources in New York
Digital projects

Journals for the study of book history

American Periodicals American Periodicals is an annual publication devoted exclusively to scholarship and criticism relating to American magazines and newspapers of all periods.
Book History Book History is a scholarly journal devoted to every aspect of the history of the book, broadly defined as the creation, dissemination, reception, and use of script, print, and mediacy.
The Bookman A magazine of the book trade, published from 1891 to 1934.
Huntington Library Quarterly Huntington Library Quarterly publishes articles on the literature, history, and art of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries in Britain and America.
Information & Culture (formerly Libraries & the Cultural Record) An interdisciplinary journal that explores the significance of collections of recorded knowledge – their creation, organization, preservation, and utilization – in the context of cultural and social history.
Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History Publishes several substantial articles in each volume with emphasis on the period of transition from manuscript to print. This annual's main focus is on English and Continental works produced from 1350 to 1550.
The Library The Library is the journal of the Bibliographical Society. All aspects of descriptive and historical bibliography come within its scope, including the general and economic history of the production and distribution of books, paper, printing types, illustration, and binding, as well as the transmission of texts and their authenticity.
Library & Information History Library & Information History is a fully-refereed, quarterly journal publishing articles of a high academic standard from international authors on all subjects and all periods relating to the history of libraries and librarianship and to the history of information, in its broadest sense.
Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America The journal of the Bibliographical Society of America. Publishes articles on the book and the manuscript as historical evidence.
Printing History Printing History, the biannual journal of the American Printing History Association, publishes scholarly articles on the history of printing, publishing, books, type, typography, paper and related industries.
Studies in Bibliography Each year Studies in Bibliography presents a wide range of scholarly articles on bibliography and textual criticism. Founded by Professor Fredson Bowers of the University of Virginia in 1948 as Papers of the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia.
Textual Cultures Formerly publishd as TEXT: An Interdisciplinary Annual of Textual Studies. Focuses on the field of textual studies and the notion of the diverse textual cultures.
Victorian Periodicals Review The only refereed journal that concentrates on the editorial and publishing history of Victorian periodicals, Victorian Periodicals Review (VPR) emphasizes the importance of periodicals and newspapers in the history and culture of Victorian Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire.

Databases for finding journal articles

America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window Indexes literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes 1,700 journals and also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1964 to present.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) This link opens in a new window This database indexes about 1,700 arts and humanities journals. Dates of coverage: 1975 to present. Adjust settings to expand your searching to include the Social Sciences Citation Index, the Science Citation Index, the Book Citation Index, and others.
Book History Online This link opens in a new window Book History Online (BHO) is a comprehensive international bibliography covering scholarly monographs, articles, and reviews in the fields of book and library history, focusing on the production and distribution of printed books in their economic and socio-cultural contexts, as well as their preservation and description. It is the online continuation of the Annual Bibliography of the History of the Printed Book and Libraries .
Historical Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. Indexes more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1955 to present.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window Literature Resource Center offers biographical and other background information for research on literary topics, authors, and their works. Its coverage includes all genres and disciplines, all time periods, and all regions of the world. Literature Resource Center's content comes from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and more, including full text of selected poems, plays, and short stories.

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Last Updated: Aug 30, 2024 11:53 AM
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University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Guides
Introduction to Historical Research
Primary Sources

Introduction to Historical Research : Primary Sources

Archival sources
Multimedia sources
Newspapers and other periodicals
Biographical Information
Government documents

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What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources were either created during the time period being researched or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being examined (as in the case of memoirs). They often reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period and can serve as evidence in making an historical argument.

Examples include:

Artifacts

Audio recordings (e.g. radio programs)
Diaries
Interviews (e.g., oral histories, telephone, e-mail)
Journal articles published in peer-reviewed publications
Letters
Newspaper articles written at the time
Original Documents (i.e. birth certificate, will, marriage license, trial transcript)
Patents
Photographs
Proceedings of Meetings, conferences and symposia
Records of organizations, government agencies
Speeches
Survey Research (e.g., market surveys, public opinion polls)
Video recordings (e.g. television programs)
Works of art, architecture, literature, and music
Web sites
How to read a primary source
Why Study History Through Primary Sources?
Using Historical Sources
Primary Sources Research guide

Primary Source Databases

Below are sample library subscription databases with digitized primary sources. More can be found on the Historical/Primary Sources page.

American West Contains manuscript materials, broadsides, maps, and printed items documenting the history of the American West from the 18th century to the early 20th century.
Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1863 15,000 articles and documents written by Black abolitionists during the antebellum period in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The contents include correspondence, speeches, sermons, lectures by African-American leaders; articles and essays published in African-American, abolitionist, and reform newspapers; and related documents.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries 1500 - 1950 A vast collection of British and Irish women's diaries and correspondence, spanning more than 300 years, it brings the personal experiences of nearly 500 women.
Caribbean Views Caribbean Views draws from the British Library's collection of maps, manuscripts, printed books and newspapers relating to the British West Indies to conjure up a vivid picture of life in the English-speaking Caribbean during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Library's holdings of material relating to the English slave trade and slavery are particularly strong.
Defining Gender 50,000 images of original documents from five centuries of advice literature and related material, from diaries, advice and conduct books, as well as articles from medical and other journals, ballads, cartoons, and pamphlets, all from Europe. Much of the material is British in origin.
Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800) The Evans collection is a definitive resource for all aspects of American life in the 17th and 18th centuries. Based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans and Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography. With these bibliographies, Evans and Bristol attempted to identify all works published in America through 1800.
Early Encounters in North America--Peoples, Cultures and the Environment Contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters.
Early English Books Online Early English Books Online (EEBO) provides full-text images of almost all the books printed in England and her colonies from the beginning of printing to 1700 (about 125,000 titles). more... less... You can search for books on your topic by author, title,and keyword, or search just for illustrations from these books if you wish. EEBO includes the items listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661), and additional supplementary materials. Gradually, searchable electronic text versions of a selection of these books are being added to the project. These searchable texts are called: EEBO-TCP, the Early English Books Online Text Creation Project. Eventually both EEBO and EEBO-TCP will be combined into one database. For now, in addition to using using Early English Books Online (EEBO), check EEBO-TCP if you want to do want to do keyword searching within an individual work.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online An online library of over 180,000 titles published between 1701 and 1800, and printed in English-speaking countries, or countries under British colonial rule. Includes books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more. more... less... The majority of works in ECCO are in the English language but there are also works printed in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish and Welsh. Based on the English Short Title Catalogue Works published in the UK during the 18th century plus thousands from elsewhere
Electronic Enlightenment Contains correspondence between the greatest thinkers and writers of the eighteenth century and their families and friends, bankers and booksellers, patrons and publishers. It is an aggregation of 53,000 primary source letters from more than 6,000 writers and numerous presses. more... less... An ongoing scholarly research project of the University of Oxford and other universities and organizations, Electronic Enlightenment offers access to the web of correspondence between the greatest thinkers and writers of the eighteenth century and their families and friends, bankers and booksellers, patrons and publishers. EE is an aggregation of 53,000 primary source letters from more than 6,000 writers and numerous presses. Readers can explore writer's views on history, literature, language, arts, philosophy, science, medicine, and personal, social and political relations.
Everyday Life and Women in America c.1800–1920 Hundreds of monographs illuminating all aspects of family life. Also includes periodicals and pamphlets. more... less... Fully-searchable access to 75 rare periodicals ranging from Echoes of the South (Florida) and the Household Magazine (North Carolina) to Lucifer the Lightbearer (Chicago), The Heathen Woman's Friend (Boston) and Women's Work (Georgia). * A rich collection of rare pamphlets. * Hundreds of monographs illuminating all aspects of family life all of which have been screened against Gerritsen, Shaw-Shoemaker, and other relevant projects to avoid needless duplication. * Insightful contextual essays by leading scholars that will help to point students at valuable resources. * Strong coverage of prescriptive literature and manuals for domestic management telling us much about the organisation of the home.
Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online The Gerritsen Collection includes books and periodicals from around the world which document the condition of women, the evolution of feminist consciousness, and women's rights. more... less... The Gerritsen Collection includes books and periodicals from around the world which document the condition of women, the evolution of feminist consciousness, and women's rights. More than 4,000 books and 265 periodicals in the collection are primarily in English with German, French, and Dutch-language materials strongly represented. Other languages included are Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Slavic, and Scandinavian.
Library of Latin Texts Contains 3,200 works that are attributed to approximately 950 authors. more... less... The texts which are incorporated are selected by virtue of their having been edited according to best contemporary scholarly practice. Independent research is undertaken to verify facts relating to the text, such as the veracity of the authorial attribution or the dating.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Nineteenth Century Collections Online unites multiple, distinct archives into a single resource, including a wide variety of previously unavailable primary sources ranging from books and monographs, newspapers and periodicals, diaries and personal letters, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, and maps. more... less... Initial archival modules include: British Politics and Society; European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection; Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; and British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories Provides a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives. more... less... In selected cases, users will be able to hear the actual audio voices of the immigrants. The collection will be particularly useful to researchers, because much of the original material is difficult to find, poorly indexed, and unpublished; most bibliographies of the immigrant focus on secondary research; and few oral histories have been published.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries (Colonial to 1950) Provides a collection of published and unpublished women's diaries and correspondence, drawn from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings.
Oxford African American Studies Center Over 1,000 images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, and over 100 maps have been collected to enhance this reference content related to the African American experience.
Past Masters Provides access to searchable full text databases of primary works, letters, journals, and notebooks from important philosophers and women writers. All titles are in the English language, either original as written or in translation.
Sixties The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 documents the key events, trends, and movements in 1960s America. more... less... The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 documents the key events, trends, and movements in 1960s America vividly conveying the zeitgeist of the decade and its effects into the middle of the next. Alongside 70,000 pages of letters, diaries, and oral histories, there are more than 30,000 pages of posters, broadsides, pamphlets, advertisements, and rare audio and video materials. The collection is further enhanced by dozens of scholarly document projects, featuring richly annotated primary-source content that is analyzed and contextualized through interpretive essays by leading historians.
Twentieth Century Advice Literature This collection includes how-to books and guides; employee manuals, sorority and fraternity pledge manuals; scouting manuals; textbooks; commercial literature; and government manuals. more... less... Twentieth Century Advice Literature focuses on gender roles and relations, American consumerism, views of democratic citizenship, character development for children, changes in reaction to each major war (including World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam), class relations, and adjustments to new technology (such as proper manners when using the telephone, point-and-shoot camera, or e-mail). Included are how-to books and guides; employee manuals, sorority and fraternity pledge manuals; scouting manuals; textbooks that deal with home economics, health and hygiene, and sex education; teacher-training and course manuals; commercial literature that promotes specific behaviors; and government instruction manuals for a variety of workplaces and industries.
Women and Social Movements in the United States Document projects that interpret and present materials, many of which are not otherwise available online, in U.S. history and U.S. women's history.

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URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/introhist

AI Research Guide

Getting Started
AI Citation Guide This link opens in a new window
Computer Science
Criminal Justice
Earth, Ocean, & Environment
Engineering

Books - History

Academic articles - history.

Library & Information Science
Public Health & Nursing

Ask a Librarian Online

French vital records data gathering and analysis through image processing and machine learning algorithms by Plateau-Holleville et al. (2021) In this peer-reviewed article, the reader can learn about how AI was applied to ease the data-collection process of studying former populations and collecting the social, economic, and demographic characteristics of each population
The Semantics of History. Interdisciplinary Categories and Methods for Digital Historical Research by Travé Allepuz, Esther et al. (2021) This paper introduces the idea of using data-modeling as a means of expanding the potential of historical research. The authors then dive into the use of labelling and a diverse dataset to reduce the risks of bias
Big Data and the Prospects of Historical Research - A study of research in modern and contemporary Korean history by Moon, Minki (2019) The authors discuss the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the field of historical research, how can be used in the field, and why historians should learn more about it's applications
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Book History

Greg Barnhisel, Duquesne University; Beth le Roux, University of Pretoria; and Yuri Cowan, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Journal Details

Contributions are accepted on a rolling basis. Articles should be submitted in electronic form as a Microsoft Word file, in Times New Roman or a similar serif typeface, double-spaced (including notes and citations), and documented in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style . All submissions will be subject to double-blind review: therefore, contact information (author’s name, telephone number, postal address, e-mail address) should be provided in the cover letter but should not appear anywhere in the article itself.

Contributors are welcome to submit black-and-white illustrations and graphs with their texts. We also invite authors to include additional supplementary material to accompany their articles, such as color illustrations, web pages, database interfaces, slide decks, and/or videos; those will run in our companion publication BHUnbound .

The desired length for submissions is 8–11,000 words, but shorter and longer articles will be considered. Due to space considerations, in the case of exceptionally long articles, the editors may choose to run the notes or appendices in BHUnbound. Articles may not be submitted to any other journal while they are under consideration at Book History .

Book History now has a fully electronic system for processing submissions. The submissions portal is here: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bookhistory The editors of Book History award an annual Graduate Student Award, with a prize of $500, for the best essay in that year’s volume by an author who was pursuing a course of graduate studies at the time of initial submission. The winner of this prize is announced during SHARP’s yearly conference at the Annual General Meeting.

Queries concerning submissions should be sent directly to the editors: Greg Barnhisel ( [email protected] ) for articles dealing with the Americas; Beth le Roux ( [email protected] ) for articles dealing with Africa, Asia (including the Middle East), the Pacific, and global issues; and Yuri Cowan ( [email protected] ) for articles dealing with Europe.

The Hopkins Press Journals Ethics and Malpractice Statement can be found at the ethics-and-malpractice page.

Peer Review Policy

Book History, an official publication of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP), accepts submissions of original, researched scholarly articles focused on issues in the history of the book, print or manuscript culture, authorship, and reading. We do not publish informal articles or reviews. Articles should not be merely case studies; they must contribute to a larger debate or comment on a broader question in the field and show a familiarity with current scholarship. The desired length for submissions is 8–11,000 words, but shorter and longer articles will be considered. Due to space considerations, in the case of exceptionally long articles, the editors may choose to run the notes or appendices in BHUnbound. We do not accept simultaneous submissions. We do not consider translations of articles that have been previously published in other languages; for those types of submissions, please consider Book History ’s sister publication Lingua Franca.

Book History uses double-blind peer review. Authors submit their piece through the ScholarOne portal to the editor responsible for the article’s area (for Europe, Yuri Cowan; for the Americas, Greg Barnhisel; for Africa, Oceania, Asia, and “State of the Discipline” pieces, Beth LeRoux), and upon initial submission all editors read the article and vote on whether it should be sent out for review. Having passed preliminary editorial review, all articles are sent to expert peer reviewers in a double-blind process (reviewers do not know the identity of the author, and the author is not informed of the identity of the reviewers), although authors are asked to provide names of possible reviewers. Reviewers return their reports within 4-6 weeks recommending acceptance, revision, or rejection. The reviews are advisory and the editors reserve the right not to follow a reviewer’s recommendation or even to find another reviewer if they deem a given review unacceptable. Authors have three months to revise and resubmit their articles but extensions can be given.

Criteria for review, both by the editors and the reviewers, are:

Relevance, originality, plausibility, strength of the argument
Contribution of the article to an ongoing topic in the field
Quality of the research and engagement with other scholarship on the topic
Quality of the writing and organization of the article

Greg Barnhisel , Duquesne University Beth le Roux , University of Pretoria Yuri Cowan , Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Advisory Editors

Guyda Armstrong, University of Manchester Jan-Pieter Barbian, Duisburg Public Library Ann M. Blair, Harvard University Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University Sarah Brouillette, Carleton University Matthew P. Brown, University of Iowa Center for the Book Archie Dick, University of Pretoria Paul Eggert, Loyola University Chicago and University of New South Wales Aileen Fyfe, University of St. Andrews Anindita Ghosh, University of Manchester Lisa Gitelman, New York University Robert Gross, University of Connecticut (Emeritus) Faye Hammill, University of Glasgow Barbara Hochman, Ben-Gurion University (Emerita) Shamil Jeppie, University of Cape Town William A. Johnson, Duke University Joan Judge, York University Andrew T. Kamei-Dyche, Aoyama Gakuin University Matthew Kirschenbaum, University of Maryland Alisha R. Knight, Washington College Cheryl Knott, University of Arizona Keith Manley, Exeter, UK Elizabeth McHenry, New York University Alicia C. Montoya, Radboud University Nijmegen Eva Mroczek, University of California, Davis Simone Murray, Monash University Brigitte Ouvry-Vial , Le Mans Université and Institut Universitaire de France Ruth Panofsky, Ryerson University Birgitte Beck Pristed, Aarhus University Benito Rial Costas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Dagmar A. Riedel, Columbia University Jiřina Šmejkalová, Charles University and Palacký University Lisa Z. Sigel, DePaul University Erin A. Smith, University of Texas at Dallas Robert Spoo, University of Tulsa College of Law Andrew Thacker, Nottingham Trent University Michele Troy, Hillyer College—University of Hartford Alexis Weedon, University of Bedfordshire

Abstracting & Indexing Databases

Emerging Sources Citation Index
Web of Science
Academic Search Alumni Edition, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Academic Search Complete, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Academic Search Elite, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Academic Search Premier, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Academic Search Ultimate, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
America: History and Life, 9/1/1998-
Biography Index: Past and Present (H.W. Wilson), vol.9, 2006-vol.10, 2007
Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson), Jan.2006-
Current Abstracts, 1/1/2003-
Historical Abstracts (Online), 9/1/1998-
Humanities International Complete, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Humanities International Index, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Humanities Source, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Humanities Source Ultimate, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Library & Information Science Source, 1/1/2006-11/1/2011
Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson), 01/01/2006-
Library Literature & Information Science Index (H.W. Wilson), 1/1/2006-11/1/2011
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Literary Reference Center, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
Literary Reference Center Plus, 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), 1/1/2006-11/1/2011
OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson), 1/1/2006-11/1/2011
TOC Premier (Table of Contents), 1/1/2003-12/31/2009
ArticleFirst, vol.1, no.1, 1998-vol.12, no.1, 2009
Electronic Collections Online, vol.1, no.1, 1998-vol.12, no.1, 2009
Library Literature, vol.9, 2006-vol.13, 2010

Source: Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory.

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Research in Bibliography, Textual Studies & Book History

Research in Bibliography, Textual Studies & Book History: Researching the History of a Book

Researching a particular book.

When researching a particular book, it will help to take a step back and think about the genre of the book and/or place it in the timeline of publication history .

Critical editions, notes, and introductory texts are often goldmines for finding information about a publication's history.
Look for a copy of your chosen book at UW Libraries .
Browse the book stacks near your book to find more items. Scan the tables of contents and the indexes for the book title, publisher, etc.
Find a biography .
Research the publisher .
Find book reviews .

See below for tips on finding biographies, publisher information, and book reviews.

Find a biography

Find a biography using Wikipedia, UW Libraries Search, or Gale Literature Resource Center. Biographers often include circumstances around the publication of the book.

Access for all on-campus; login required from off-campus

UW Libraries Search Search your author's name and the keyword: biography. - For example: Alexandre Dumas AND biography You'll need to narrow the results from here using the limiters on the left. Limit to print books and/or ebooks. OR you can go to Advanced Search , and then from the drop down, choose subject, and enter the author's name. *Take note of the library location and call number. Go and get the book from the stacks. Browse the section for more biographies while you are there. Look in the index for references to the book you are researching.
Wikipedia or Google Wikipedia also has editions in many languages, e.g. French Wikipedia. -Search for your author. -Browse the article, looking for information about your selected book. -Be sure to scroll down to the sources that the article cites. -Look up any promising sources in UW Libraries Search to find them. Or, via Google. You may find a good site about your author and their work on the Web. Find out what sources they are using to get their information and then search UW Libraries Search for the sources.

Research the publisher

You might find a book or article about the person and/or the publishing house that edited the book. Look them up in UW Libraries Search, and do a Google search as well.

UW Libraries Search - Advanced Search

Search for the publisher (or editor)'s personal name if you have it.
If you search by publishing house, make sure you specify the publisher as a subject, using the Advanced Search. (Click "any field" and choose "subject")

Wikipedia may also contain good information about the publisher:

Look for the source list, and search for these sources in UW Libraries Search to verify the information.

Find book reviews

Book reviews can give you ideas on how a book was received at the time of publications. You can find book reviews in newspapers, magazines, literary journals, on the web, and by using book review indexes. We have a guide to help you find them on the Libraries website.

Book reviews research guide

Use the resources for Current Book Reviews if your book was published more recently.
Otherwise use the guidance under "Locating Reviews of Older Books".
Review the tips for finding book reviews and things to keep in mind.
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Provenance Research in Book History: A Handbook

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Provenance Research in Book History: A Handbook Hardcover – April 26, 2019

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Print length 448 pages
Language English
Publisher The Bodleian Library
Publication date April 26, 2019
Dimensions 6.54 x 1.67 x 9.53 inches
ISBN-10 1851245103
ISBN-13 978-1851245109
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Bodleian Library; New edition (April 26, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1851245103
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1851245109
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.62 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.54 x 1.67 x 9.53 inches
#291 in Library Management
#803 in General Library & Information Sciences
#105,781 in Reference (Books)

About the author

David pearson.

I was a librarian by profession and worked in numerous places, mostly in London, from the 1980s onwards - the British Library, the National Art Library, the Wellcome Library, Senate House Library. I was Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries for the City of London Corporation, and retired from that post in 2017. My books are about books, not books as words but books as things that people have owned, written in, done things to, to make objects that have histories in their own right. This was the theme of "Books as History" but I have also written more specialised books on the history of book ownership, and bookbinding, and how to recognise the evidence of these things. In a digital age, I think it's important to forge ahead with online reading, but also see that books may have all kinds of other qualities, beyond just texts, that give them lasting cultural value.

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