LibGuides: History: Home

Step 1: Search the library catalogue for books

LibrarySearch
Search the library catalogue to find books on your topic.

Search tips:

Choosing keywords. Try searching on alternative keywords if you don't get the results you expect.
Phrase searching. Try putting common phrases in quotation marks, e.g. "industrial revolution".
Truncation/wildcard. Put an asterisk at the end of the stem of the word to search for any letters which come after it, e.g. film* will find film, films, filming, etc.
Refining to ebooks. Use the ebook filter.

Finding a Book (video)

Step 3: If the library doesn't have the book/article

Document Delivery Service
Guide to using the Document Delivery Service

Suggest a Book for the Library

Help with academic skills

Writing history essays by Ian Mabbett
ISBN: 9781137543677
Publication Date: 2016
Studying History by Jeremy Black; Donald M. MacRaild
ISBN: 9781137478597
Publication Date: 2016
Studying Arts and Humanities by Catherine Bates; Abigail Matthewman
ISBN: 9780230205475
Publication Date: 2009
Academic Essay by Derek Soles; Graham Lawler (Editor)
ISBN: 9781842850657
Publication Date: 2005
The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell
ISBN: 9781137289254
Publication Date: 2013

Step 2: Search databases for secondary sources

The databases listed below contain research in History (journal articles and book articles). Choose a database appropriate for your specific topic. Historical Abstracts is a good general database in this subject (though it excludes the United States and Canada).

Search tips:

Choosing keywords. Try searching on alternative keywords if you don't get the results you expect.
Combining search terms. Combine concepts with AND. Combine alternative keywords with OR, e.g. (film OR cinema) AND (horror or suspense)
Phrase searching. Try putting common phrases in quotation marks, e.g. "industrial revolution"
Truncation/wildcard. Put an asterisk at the end of the stem of the word to search for any letters which come after it, e.g. film* will find film, films, filming, etc.
Refining search. Refine your search using the filters available, e.g. date, language
Evaluating results. Read the abstract and subject headings to decide whether the article is relevant to your research.
Finding full text. If you don't see a PDF link, look for the Find@Stir button - this may take you to the full text. You can also download the LibkeyNomad browser plug-in, which will provide access to articles. If we don't have the article, see Step 3 below (If the library doesn't have the book/article).

Historical Abstracts
World history (excluding United States and Canada) from 1450 onwards; includes other subject areas presented from a historical perspective.
Bibliography of British and Irish History Online
An index to journal articles, books and book chapters about British, Irish and Commonwealth history covering the period from 55 BC to the present.
Web of Science Core Collection
Provides access to the Citation Indexes for: Science; Social Sciences; Arts & Humanities; Conference Proceedings and Books. Use for finding journal articles and conference papers. Databases can be searched simultaneously or select specific databases using the More Settings option.
JSTOR
Searchable digital archive collection of core scholarly journals, many starting with the first issue (some of which date from the 1800s). Also includes some primary source collections.
PAO : Periodicals Archive Online
Full text backfiles of international academic journals in the humanities and social sciences. Files run from the late 18th century to the late 20th century.
Project MUSE
Project Muse provides full text access to a wide range of journals. We subscribe to the Humanities Collection only.
Humanities Index - previously British Humanities Index
Covers 1962 to date. Abstracts from over 400 sources in the areas of literature, the arts, cinema, economics, history, current affairs, popular science, religion, music and architecture.
European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750
A bibliography of works printed in Europe which relate to the Americas before 1750.
International Medieval Bibliography Online
Index to articles on medieval topics (300 - 1500 AD).
SocArXiv - Open archive of the social sciences
SocArXiv is a free open access archive for the social sciences. It holds working papers, preprints and published papers - some documents have links to data and code. (A pre-print is: "a manuscript draft that has not yet been subject to formal peer review, distributed to receive early feedback on research from peers").
British Library Shared Research Repository for cultural and heritage organisations
Research repository of research produced by staff of the British Library and their partner organisations including: the British Museum, MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), National Museums Scotland, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and Tate
OOIR (Observatory of International Research)
Tracks “social science” journals to continually list their latest papers. Covers Anthropology, Area Studies, Communication, Geography, History, Law, Political Science and Sociology.

Step 4: Search for primary sources

Below you will find a selective list of online primary sources. Remember to also check the library catalogue for primary sources published as books.

World history

Old Maps Online
Cross search online historical maps. Includes maps from the National Library of Scotland and the British Library.
Index of Medieval Art
Images and descriptive data related to the iconography of works of art produced between late Antiquity and the sixteenth century. You can browse the database or search by keyword.
Frontier Life
This digital collection of primary source documents helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920. Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas.

European history

Europeana
Access to over 50 million digital resources from Europe's museums, archives, art galleries, libraries and audiovisual collections. Sources include the Louvre, the Rijksmuseum and the British Library.
CESSDA (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives)
An umbrella organisation for social science data archives across Europe. The CESSDA Catalogue provides access to research data from archives across Europe covering around 6000 studies distributed by members of the CESSDA European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The Catalogue enables users to locate datasets, as well as questions or variables within datasets. Data collections include sociological surveys, election studies, longitudinal studies, opinion polls, and census data from the European Social Survey, Eurobarometer and the International Social Survey Programme.

German History in Documents
Collection of primary source materials documenting Germany's political, social and cultural history from 1500 to the present.
Testifying to the Truth: Eye Witnesses to the Holocaust
Over 1,000 accounts from eyewitnesses to Nazi persecution and genocide gathered by researchers at the Wiener Holocaust Library during the 1950s.
French Revolution Digital Archive
A collection of digital resources of value for anyone researching the French Revolution. A collaboration between Stanford University Libraries and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Scottish history

Digitial Collections from the National Library of Scotland
Digital materials from the National Library of Scotland, includes maps, Post Office Directories, stories from the First World War, Gaelic Book collections, Robert Louis Stevenson collection, resources about the Jacobites and much more.
Scottish History Society publications
Useful resource for Scottish historians. Covers the 12th to 20th centuries. Includes a variety of resources including diaries, letters and illustrations.

Scotsman 1817-1950
Archive of The Scotsman newspaper
SCRAN : Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network
Content from SCRAN is now available on trove.scot. Search for text and multimedia records from museums, galleries and archives relating to culture, history and science.
trove.scot
Information, images and media relating to Scotland's heritage. Brings together content previously available via Historic Environment Scotland's Historic Environment Portal, Canmore, Property in Care Collections and SCRAN.
National Galleries of Scotland Online Collection
Explore the collections from Scotland's National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Photograhpy Collection in Edinburgh. The online collection contains information about almost 2500 works of art with more being added to the site regularly.
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
Web version of the old (first) and new (second) Statistical Accounts of Scotland, first published in 1791-99 and 1845 respectively. Covers a wide range of topics: wealth, class and poverty; climate, agriculture, fishing and wildlife; population, schools and the moral health of the people. Keyword and phrase searching of the whole text is possible.
Records of the Parliaments of Scotland
Searchable database containing the proceedings of the Scottish parliament from the first surviving act of 1235 to the union of 1707.

People of Medieval Scotland
Biographical record of notable Scots from 1093 to 1314.
Stirling Council Poor Relief Indexes (1814-1934)
Access to General Registers of the Poor, Applications for Relief and Parish Minutes for 14 parishes in the Stirling Council area
University of Stirling Oral History
Collection of recordings from retired and former staff and alumni of the University, providing an informal history of the University in all its aspects: academic, social and environmental.

British history

Audio-visual materials

British Library Sounds
British Library Sounds presents 50,000 recordings and their associated documentation from the Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.

British Council Film Collection
Access to over 100 films showing life in Britain in the 1940s.

British Pathé Collection
Access to over 85,000 historic films covering the period 1896 - 1976. Playlists include sport, inventions, days that shook the world, war footage and fashion.

Roundabout from British Universities Film & Video Council
Over 600 short films made in the 1960s and 1970s by the Central Office of Information to promote British manufacturing and showcase the Commonwealth to cinema audiences in Asia.

Images

British Museum's online collections
over 2 million records available to search.

National Portrait Gallery
Explore details of over 120,000 portraits from the sixteenth century to the present day.
British Cartoon Archive
The British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent contains more than 130,000 cartoons from 1904 onwards. Contains cartoons from the magazine Punch from the 1920s to 1990s. Search the catalogue to look for materials available online.

Biographies

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Biographical dictionary containing information about the lives of people who have shaped the history of Britain.

Newspapers

British Library Newspapers
Digital archive of historical British newspapers, covering the 17th century up to 1950. Includes many local and regional newspapers.
Gale Primary Sources
Searches 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection, 19th Century UK Periodicals, British Library Newspapers, Financial Times Historical Archive, Sunday Times Digital Archive, Times Digital Archive, Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive
British Newspaper Archive
Archive of British newspapers from the 18th century onwards. We do not subscribe to this service, but a large number of historical newspaper titles can now be consulted free. Registration required. Choose Advanced Search, and limit to Free to View.
Times Digital Archive
Searchable full text of The Times newspaper from 1785 to 2024. See also The Sunday Times archive
Sunday Times Archive
Archive of The Sunday Times from 1822 - 2006. See also The Times Digital Archive.
Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2010
The Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010, is the complete searchable facsimile run of the world's most authoritative daily business newspaper. Every article and advertisement ever printed in the paper can be searched and browsed individually and page by page. This is an essential, comprehensive and unbiased research tool for everyone studying public affairs, and economic and financial history of the last 120 years.
Nineteenth Century British Library Newspapers
Full text of selected influential national and regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments of 19th century British society. This resource can also be searched as part of the British Newspapers Collection.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection
Access to over 1 million newspaper pages, Acts of Parliament and pamphlets from the 17th and 18th centuries.
British Periodicals Online
British Periodicals Online provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth century.
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals
Access to the full text of 90 periodicals from the nineteenth century.

Official Publications

UK Parliamentary Papers (was House of Commons Parliamentary Papers)
Previously known as House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, now also includes House of Lords Papers. This is the major gateway to materials relating to parliamentary history of the United Kingdom. Includes full text of House of Commons Parliamentary Papers from 1801 - 2003/04. Covers Bills, House of Commons Papers, Command Papers, Reports of Committees and Commissions, and Accounts and Papers, but not Parliamentary debates. Also House of Lords papers from the 19th century.
Hansard 1803-2005
Digitised historical Hansard reports for the Houses of Commons and Lords.
Hansard is now available as part of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.
Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England (HathiTrust version)
1066 - 1803. Includes a browsable list of volumes.
Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England (Bodleian Library version)
From 1066 to 1803

Statistics

Histpop
A collection of British Historical Population Reports. Access to population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937.

Maps

Historic Digimap
Offers a range of historical Ordnance Survey mapping data products from 1843 to 1996. A range of online tools are available to facilitate viewing, interrogation and download of these products.

Early printed publications

John Johnson Collection
This collection provides access to over 67,000 items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, which will be of interest for anyone studying British social history. The collection offers unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Categories include nineteenth century entertainment, the booktrade, popular prints, crimes, murders and executions, and advertising.
MEMSO (Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online)
Primary sources for the study of the Medieval and Early Modern world, with particular strengths in British and colonial history
JSTOR
The 19th Century British Pamphlets Collection is a good primary source. You can do an advanced search and limit your search to pamphlets only.

Georgian Britain
Collection of materials from the British Library relating to Georgian Britain
Victorian Britain
Collection of materials from the British Library relating to Victorian Britain.

Manuscripts

Manuscripts Online
Catalogue of primary source materials from the period 1000 to 1500.

Specific people and topics

Queen Victoria's Journals
Digitised versions of Queen Victoria's journals. 141 volumes are included covering the period 1832 to 1901.

Florence Nightingale Digitization Project
Links to online primary resources relating to Florence Nightingale.

Medical Services and Warfare
Explore multiple perspectives on the history of injury, treatment and disease on the front line. Chart scientific advances through hospital records, medical reports and first-hand accounts, and discover the evidence of how war shaped medical practice across the centuries.

Legacies of British Slave Ownership
Database of British slave owners at the time of the abolition of slavery.
Manufacturing Pasts
Access to 1700 multimedia resources (images, maps, audio clips, newspaper cuttings) relating to British industrial history in the second half of the 20th century. Most of the material relates to the Leicestershire area.
Unit War Diaries (First World War)
From The National Archives, these diaries provide an insight into events on the front line.
London's Pulse, Medical Officer of Health Reports (1848-1972)
Health information and statistics about the lives of Londoners for over 125 years. Uses data from the collections of the Wellcome Library and the London Metropolitan Archives.

African history

African Online Digital Library
Gateway to a range of multimedia resources of interest to those studying or researching Africa.
Connecting Africa
Gateway to information about Africa, including links to repositories, researchers and organisations.

Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa
Digitised documents and primary sources on the dismantling of the apartheid regime in southern Africa
Nelson Mandela Digital Archive
Digital archive of resources relating to the life of Nelson Mandela

American history

Library of Congress Digital Collections
A great U.S. site for historians, exploiting source material in the Library of Congress.

American national biography
Biographies of men and women whose lives have shaped American life and culture.
Chronicling America
Information about, and access to, digitised historic American newspapers.

Colonial America
Module 3 of AM's Colonial America collection, which covers the American Revolution. Includes original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a rich resource for historians of the period.

Elephind
Search the world's historical newspaper archives. Covers Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore, but the coverage of the United States is the most useful.
Digital Public Library of America's Primary Source Sets
Includes posters, video clips, letters, music and more.
The American Presidency Project
Searchable database of Presidential papers going back to 1789
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Posters, images, maps and music more from New York Public Library's collections.
NPR History Department
Audio visual radio resources about American history topics. From the National Public Radio organisation.

Old Fulton New York State historic newspapers
Access to digitised versions of old newspapers from New York State. Comprehensive searching advice is available from the wesbite. Over 26 million newspaper pages are available.
California Digital Newspaper Collection
Access to digitised versions of significant newspapers published in California between 1846 and 1922. The site contains over 6 million articles.
Portal to Texan History - newspaper search
Part of a wider Texan history resource, use this to search almost 600 newspapers from Texas.
Historic Oregon Newspapers
Access to historic (1860 - 1922) and recent (2009 - 2011) newspapers from Oregon.
Florida Digital Newspaper Library
Access to digitised versions of over 1.5 million pages of historic and contemporary newspapers from Florida.
Kentucky Digital Library
Historic newspapers from Kentucky can be searched as part of a wider digital library. Covers the period 1860 to 1922.
Wyoming Newspaper Project
Access to all the historical newspapers published in Wyoming between 1849 and 1922.
Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library
Digitised newspapers from the Caribbean.

IDA Treaties Explorer
Indigenous Digital Archive which includes digitised versions of the Ratified Indian Treaties.

Slave Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American Slave Trade Database
The world's largest archive of data related to the trans-Atlantic and intra-American slave trades. It holds records on the Atlantic slave trade and trafficking within the Americas.. Includes data on over 30,000 British, French, and Dutch ships that forced roughly 12 million Africans across the Atlantic between the 16th -19th centuries as well as data on hundreds of thousands of enslaved peoples that were trafficked within the Americas. Includes images, maps, ship routes, information on morality rates aboard the ships, the number of children transported, the names of ship captains, and information related to resistance and rebellions. Learn about the origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators and more.
Covers the time period: 1514-1866

Contact your librarian/make an appointment

Helen Beardsley

Email Me

Subjects: Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Step 5: Cite your references

General Guide to Referencing
Cite Them Right
Online tool which provides tutorials, examples, videos, articles, blogs, and other guidance on referencing, avoiding plagiarism and related topics e.g. credible sources, note taking, study skills and student issues. It includes the main styles used at Stirling: Harvard, APA, Chicago, IEEE, OSCOLA.

Chicago referencing style for History

Chicago Manual of Style Online
Guide to the Chicago style. Look at Part III on Source Citations and Indexes (Notes and Bibliography) for help with referencing in this style.