New eresources: historical newspapers, Middle East, historical exploration, slavery

The Bodleian Libraries have committed substantial external funding to a one-off set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University.

We are therefore delighted to announce access to five major eresources which will be of interest to historians, as well as others researchers in Humanities, and researchers interested in politics, international relations, Middle Eastern studies, British Empire and de-colonisation, history of exploration, historical geography and climate change.

Use SSO for remote access.

Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2016

Despite the similarity of names, The Sunday Times was an entirely separate paper from The Times until 1st January 1967, when both papers came under the common ownership of Times Newspapers Ltd. To this day, The Sunday Times remains editorially independent from The Times with its own remit and perspective on the news.

British Library Newspapers, Part V (1732-1950)

Providing access to more regional and local British newspapers, Part V completes the BL Newspapers collection (library edition). Please note that there are some newspapers in the British Newspaper Archive (public edition) which were never included in the library edition.

With a concentration of titles from the northern part of the United Kingdom, Part V deepens the database’s northern regional content, doubling coverage in Scotland, tripling coverage in the Midlands, and adding a significant number of northern titles to the British Library Newspapers series. Part V includes newspapers from the Scottish localities of Fife, Elgin, Inverness, Paisley, and John O’Groats, as well as towns just below the border, such as Morpeth, Alnwick, and more. Researchers will also benefit from access to important titles such as the Coventry Herald, which features some of the earliest published writing of Mary Ann Evans (better known as George Eliot).

Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations, 1917-1970

This resource offers the widest range of original source material from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through to the Black September war of 1970-1. Here major policy statements are set out in their fullest context, the minor documents and marginalia revealing the workings of colonial administration and, following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, British diplomacy towards Israel and the Arab states.

Royal Geographical Society – Wiley Digital Archives – (1478-1953, History of Geography, Colonization and Climate Science in the British Empire)

The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) covers history of geography
exploration, colonization and de-colonization, anthropology, law, climate science, gender studies, cartography, and environmental history throughout the British Empire from ~1478 to 1953. The archive contains manuscripts, correspondence, reports, conference papers, proceedings, maps, charts, atlases, photographs, surveys, data and ephemera, all presented as fully searchable digital images that can be analyzed, downloaded, manipulated, and compared with content from other societies and universities in the Wiley Digital Archives program.

Slavery, abolition and social justice

Covering the period 1490 to 2007, this resource brings together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world. It allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice.

In addition to the primary source documents there is a wealth of useful secondary sources for research and teaching; including an interactive map, scholarly essays, tutorials, a visual sources gallery, chronology and bibliography.

Temporary access: East View ebooks / Late Qing and Republican Era Chinese Periodicals and Newspapers database

Colleagues in other Bodleian Libraries have been busy setting up trials or temporary access to resources which will be of interest to historians working on modern Slavonic, Jewish history and Chinese history. As ever Oxford scholars need to use their SSO to gain remote access.

East View e-book collection (trial until 31 May 2020)

This resource gives you access to the East View Essential Classics Collection, the Dostoevsky Research series: Dostoevskii materialy i issledovaniia as well as East View’s Slavonic and Judaica collection. In addition it offers, reference works including encyclopedias and atlases as well as e-books from a wide range of different subject areas including linguistics, philosophy science, social science, history, business, economics.

It also includes biographical works. Some of the e-books in the collection are in Russian and others are in English.

Please send feedback to Nick Hearn.

Late Qing and Republican Era Chinese Periodicals and Newspapers database (until 28 July 2020)

The database offers full-text access to Chinese periodical publications (academic, popular, literary, professional) from 1832-1949 covering a whole range of subjects including politics, history, law, language and literature, humanities and social sciences.

In addition to Chinese periodicals, the database offers access to archives of several major newspaper titles published in English in China before 1949, including North China Herald and the China Press, among many others.

Please send feedback to Mamtimyn Sunuodula.

Full access to Gale Primary Sources until 1 Sept 2020

AMAZING NEWS! To support students and researchers during the COVID-19 crisis, Gale / Cengage very generously giving full access to a vast range of source databases and newspapers.

They are all relevant for early modern and modern historians and cover a wide range of topics.

The resources can be accessed and cross-searched in Gale Primary Sources (except State Papers Online), but can also be searched in their own native interface. You will need your SSO access these off-campus. They are of course in addition to the ones we already provide access to (see Databases A-Z).

These same titles (excluding State Papers) will be accessible through the Gale Digital Scholar Lab for digital humanities research.

Please note that access to the resources below will cease on 1 September 2020.

  1. Archives of Sexuality and Gender (ASG)
    1. LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, part I
    2. LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, part II
    3. Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century
    4. International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism & Culture
  2. China and the Modern World
    1. part I: Missionary, Sinology and Literary Periodicals
    2. part II: Records of the Maritime Customs Service of China 1854–1949
    3. part III: Diplomacy and Political Secrets 1869-1950
    4. part IV: Hong Kong, Britain and China 1841-1951
  3. American Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society
  4. American Historical Periodicals
  5. British Library Newspapers, part V: 1746-1950 (Oxford has Parts I-iV)
  6. The Independent Historical Archive 1986-2016
  7. International Herald Tribune Historical Archive, 1888-2013
  8. Liberty Magazine
  9. Mirror Historical Archive, 1903-2000
  10. Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938-1957
  11. Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992
  12. Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2016
  13. Making of Modern Law (MOML)
    1. Supreme Court Records and Briefs
    2. Trials 1600 – 1926
    3. Primary Sources
    4. Foreign Primary Sources
    5. Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600-1926
    6. American Civil Liberties Union Papers
    7. Landmark Records and Briefs of the US Appeals Courts
  14. Making of the Modern World (MOMW)
    1. Oxford has part I: 1450-1850
    2. part II: 1851–1914
    3. part III: 1890-1945
    4. part IV: 1800-1890
  15. Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO)
    1. Asia and the West
    2. British Politics & Society
    3. Children’s Literature and Childhood
    4. Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture
    5. European Literature, the Corvey Collection, 1790-1840
    6. Maps and Travel Literature
    7. Photography
    8. Religion, Reform and Society
    9. Science, Technology and Medicine, part I
    10. Science, Technology and Medicine, part II
  16. Refugees, Relief and Resettlement: Forced Migration and WWII
  17. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926
  18. State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century (Oxford has Tudors & Stuarts)
    1. part I
    2. part II
    3. part III
    4. part IV
  19. State Papers Online: Stuart and Cumberland Papers
  20. Women’s Studies Archive

If you need any help in using these resources, just get in touch with library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

It would be helpful to get feedback, which of these resources are most useful. Email isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Thank you, Gale/Cengage, for helping in this very difficult time.

Trial until 25 March: British Library Newspapers, Part V (1746-1950)

We are currently running a trial until 25 March for British Library Newspapers, Part V (1746-1950). The Bodleian Libraries already have access to British Library Newspapers, Parts I-IV. (1732-1950).

Part V gives access to 36 regional newspapers from England and Scotland. They include, for instance:

  • Burnley Express 1877-1904
  • Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 1813-1871
  • Cheltenham Looker-On 1836-1920
  • Coventry Herald 1824-1911
  • The Elgin Courant, and Morayshire Advertiser 1839-1862
  • Fife Herald 1833-1885
  • The Gloucester Journal 1837-1950
  • The Hampshire Chronicle 1772-1830
  • The Hereford Times 1832-1899
  • Inverness Courier 1817-1892
  • Leicester Journal 1810-1881
  • The Lichfield Mercury 1883-1950
  • Manchester Mercury 1752-1830
  • Sherborne Mercury 1789-1867
  • Shields Daily Gazette 1855-1904
  • The Southern Reporter [Selkirk] 1863-1925
  • Sussex Advertiser 1746-1878
  • Western Daily Press [Bristol] 1858-1949
  • The Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald 1867-1904
  • Worcestershire Chronicle 1838-1903

Content in British Library Newspapers Part I-V is also available in British Newspaper Archive. You can search for free, but need a personal subscription to read the content.

Researchers are now invited to provide feedback by emailing isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

While you are here…

Trial until 25 March: Retronews

We are inviting researchers interested in French historical newspapers to trial Retronews.

Retronews is a new archive offered by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and provides access to 600 French news titles published between 1631 and 1950.  Some of these newspapers used to be freely available on Gallica but can now only be accessed through Retronews.

Just over half of the titles are published in Paris with the rest being regional French titles and 5 from Algeria. Titles include: Le Matin (1884-1944), Le Petit Parisien (1876-1944), Le Temps (1861-1942), Gazette nationale ou le Monitor universel (1789-1901).

Different kinds of keyword search are offered. Extra features include filtering by theme, historical period and place of publication. The database comes with three introductory tutorials.

We don’t yet know when the trial expires, but please send feedback to Isabel Holowaty (isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk) and Nick Hearn (nick.hearn@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

Trial until 20 March: South Asian Newspapers : Historical newspapers from South Asia

Colleagues have arranged trial access to Readex’s South Asian Newspapers : Historical newspapers from South Asia.

This resource provides online access to a select group of South Asian newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The majority of the newspapers are from India with one from Pakistan and one from Sri Lanka. The titles include:

  • Amrita Bazar Patrika (Calcutta) 1895-1922
  • Bankura Darpana (Bankura, India) 1903-1908
  • Madras Mail (Madras) 1868-1889
  • Kayasare Hinda (Bombay) 1882-1922
  • Pioneer (Allahabad, India)1865-1903
  • Tribune (Lahore, Pakistan) 1881-1922
  • Ceylon Observer (Sri Lanka) 1864-1922

This resource can be accessed via SOLO and Databases A-Z.

Please send feedback to emma.mathieson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Chinese eresources trials until 25 August 2019

I’m pleased to report that the HD Chung Chinese Studies Librarian has organised trials of three Chinese eresources. Access is available on-campus and off-campus with VPN.

The resources being trialled are:

雕龙中日古籍全文资料库 Diaolong Database of Chinese & Japanese Pre-Modern Books: Provides full-text access to almost 30,000 pre-modern Chinese and Japanese titles covering history, politics, economy, religion, philosophy, literature, ethnography and geography. It includes collected works such as 方志丛书 (China local gazetteer series), 四库全书  (Classified collection of complete works), Japanese Pre-Modern Books and Qing Dynasty archives. http://hunteq.com/ancientc/ancientkm

中国近代报刊 (Chinese Modern Newspapers): Database provides access to pre-1949 Chinese newspapers published on mainland China and Taiwan, including Shen bao, Zhong yang ri bao, Taiwan min bao and Taiwan ri bao. http://www.dhcdb.com.tw/SP/

大公报 = Ta Kung Pao (1902 -1949): one of the major Chinese newspaper titles which is considered to be an authoritative source for the study of Chinese modern history, politics and society. http://tk.dhcdb.com.tw/tknewsc/tknewskm

The trials end on 25 August 2019. If you have any feedback or questions, please email the HD Chung Chinese Studies Librarian.

While you are here, check out…

New: The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000 and British Library Newspapers Part III-IV

I am delighted to announce that Oxford researchers now have access to two online newspaper resources which have long been on our desiderata: The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000 and British Library Newspapers Part III-IV. These are now accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z > Newspapers.

The Bodleian Libraries have committed substantial external funding to a one-off set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University. This follows a project to identify desiderata across all subjects and to list suggestions from readers. The list includes items costing up to £125,000 which cannot easily be covered by recurrent budgets. The first tranche of purchases includes a number of important primary sources from Gale Cengage, including British Library newspapers parts III and IV and The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000.

The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000

This is a searchable digital archive of what was once the world’’s largest selling newspaper. Researchers and students can full text search across 1 million pages of the newspaper’s’ backfile from its first issue to the end of 2000, including issues of the Sunday Telegraph from 1961.

The newspaper was directed at a wealthy, educated readership and is commonly associated with traditional Toryism, despite its more ‘liberal’ beginnings especially in regard to foreign policy. Under the editorship of poet and Orientalist Edwin Arnold (from 1873 to 1899), the paper published widely on foreign affairs and foreign cultures. This led to The Telegraph’s coverage of Henry Morton Stanley’s expedition to Africa in search of David Livingstone, which it co-sponsored with the New York Herald.

Daily Telegraph notable highlights include:

The Kaiser Wilhelm affair: On 28 October 1908, the Daily Telegraph published an infamous interview with Kaiser Wilhelm, the German chancellor who alienated the British public with such uncensored comments as ‘you English are mad, mad, mad as march hares.’

Telegraph trial - Kaiser Wilhelm snippet 28 Oct 1908

“The German Emperor and England”, Daily Telegraph, Wed. 28 Oct. 1908, Issue 16694, p.11

The cryptic crossword puzzle: the crossword was circulated to recruit Allied codebreakers during the Second World War and was published in The Telegraph on January 13, 1942.

British Library Newspapers, Parts I-IV (1732-1950)

In addition to Parts I and II, researchers now also have access to parts III and IV of the British Library Newspapers which has more English, Welsh and Scottish regional and local newspaper content online into the first half of the 20th century. Interesting titles include:

  • Aberdeen Journal (1901-1939)
  • Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette (1749-1950)
  • Cambridge Independent Press (1839-1920)
  • The Cornishman (1878-1950)
  • Derby Daily Telegraph (1879-1950)
  • The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (1827-1950)
  • Essex Newsman (1870-1950)
  • Hereford Journal (1781-1867)
  • Leeds Times (1833-1901)
  • The Norfolk Chronicle (1776-1867)
  • The Nottingham Evening Post (1878-1950)
  • The Salisbury and Winchester Journal (1775-1867)
  • The Salisbury and Winchester Journal (1827-1950)
  • The Western Times (1827-1950)

Researchers may be more familiar with the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) which provides access to digitised regional and local British newspapers. While searching in teh BNA is free, and, indeed, useful to locate a citation, it requires an individual subscription to see the content. If that is the case, please check the Library purchased British Library Newspapers. Please note we still don’t have Part V of British Library Newspapers and that BNA has content which is not available in any parts of British Library Newspapers. Confusing, or what? Join the club!

While you are here:

New eresources: African American Newspapers (1827-1998); Ethnic American Newspapers (1799-1971)

Our wonderful colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have secured access to two more historical American newspaper resources, both funded by a very generous donation from the Association of American Rhodes Scholars. Here is what they blogged on 20 December 2018:

African American Newspapers (Series I), 1827-1998

Chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, African American Newspapers, Series 1, features 280 newspapers from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. These titles published for or by African Americans constitute valuable primary sources for researchers exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Beginning with Freedom’s Journal (NY)—the first African American newspaper published in the United States—the titles in this groundbreaking series include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L’Union (LA), Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S.

Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971

Access to over 130 digitised newspapers published by and for ethnic groups in the United States, particularly those of Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Welsh descent.

Spanning the Early Republic’s Open Door Era to the Era of Liberalization in the mid-1960s, Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection covers two centuries of immigrant life in the United States. Nineteenth-century topics include the denial of citizenship to “nonwhites”; the founding of nativist political movements, including the anti-immigrant “Know-Nothing” party; the 1849 discovery of gold in California, which lured people from all over the world; New York City’s place as the world’s largest Irish city in 1860 with more than 200,000 Irish-born citizens; and the Immigration Act of 1882, which levied a tax on all immigrants landing at U.S. ports.

In addition to the major contributions of immigrants to business, music, science, education, labor movements and war efforts, later topics include the Naturalization Act of 1906, which for citizenship required immigrants to learn to speak English; the 1921 Emergency Quota Act, which favored northern and western Europeans; the 1942 internment in “War Relocation Camps” of Japanese Americans, several of whom published newspapers; Truman’s 1953 Commission on Immigration and Naturalization, which revealed the positive impact of immigrants; and much more.

Both collections are now available via SOLO / Databases A-Z.

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Also of interest:

New: Daily Express (1900-) and Daily Star (2000-)

I am delighted to report that thanks to a sharing agreement with colleagues in Social Sciences, historians now have access to the following UK tabloids:

These newspapers are all published by Express Newspapers and complement well our other online resources such as Daily Mail Historical Archive 1896-2004 and Daily Mirror (1903-).

Learn how to best search online newspapers in our Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries (LibGuide).

Check out more blog posts on newspaper resources.