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History Thesis Fair for undergraduates on Wed 30 April

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We are delighted to run the History Thesis Fair for second-year undergraduates this year on Wednesday 30 April, 3-5pm at the Examination Schools (North Writing School).

All info can be found here: History Thesis Fair for Undergraduates

The Fair is aimed at 2nd year history undergraduates embarking on their thesis research and who are looking to explore the wealth of research source material available for their field of study.

It is the ideal opportunity to learn about resources you may not yet have considered for your undergraduate thesis, and to connect with librarians, archivists, researchers, and collection curators who can guide you towards relevant material or useful finding tools. You can also speak to other students who have previously written dissertations and learn about their TOP 10 TIPS.

30 stalls will cover many areas:

Topical stalls, e.g.

  • Biography
  • Disability History
  • Legal History
  • LGBTQ+, Gender and Sexuality
  • History of Science & Medicine
  • Maps and Mapping
  • Medieval History
  • Oral History
  • Visual Culture
  • and more

Special Collections, libraries and archives, e.g.

  • Archives and Manuscripts 1500-1800
  • Archives and Modern Manuscripts 1800-
  • College Libraries (Special Collections)
  • College Archives
  • Digital primary source providers: Gale Primary Sources, AM – Adam Matthew Digital
  • Early Printed Books
  • Oxford Brookes University Special Collections & Archives
  • Oxfordshire History Centre
  • Printed Ephemera (John Johnson Collection)
  • UK Government and International Intergovernmental Publications

Geographical stalls, e.g.

  • Africa & Commonwealth
  • East Asia & South Asia
  • Eastern Europe and Russia
  • Great Britain & Western Europe
  • Middle East, Hebrew & Judaica, Caucasus & Central Asia
  • Latin America
  • United States

Plus, at our Information Skills stall, learn what courses are laid on to help you develop the research and referencing skills you will need.

The format of the Fair encourages you to explore and discover new materials at your own pace, to be curious, to network and to make connections to experts and your peers.

Accessibility

The main entrance to the Examination Schools is stepped. There is a ramped entrance immediately to the left of the main entrance. There is lift access throughout the building, two wheelchair accessible toilets and hearing support systems that can be deployed where needed throughout the building. Most areas of the building have level access.

The accessible toilet is gender neutral and is at the bottom of the staircase opp. Room 8.

If you have any queries, please email library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Research skills training

Working on your thesis means that you will need to learn new or improve existing research skills, including:

  1. Effective searching for information;
  2. Awareness of the rich sources available in Oxford (and beyond) and how to access them;
  3. Ability to correctly handle physical source material, such as archives;
  4. Correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
  5. Awareness of the relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.

The Bodleian Libraries have many classes and workshops set up to help you learn the skills you need – check out the research training page on this Libguide: 

Research Training for Historians

We hope to see you at the Fair!

2nd year UG Historians: Get Ready for Your Thesis Research in Trinity Term!

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Throughout Trinity term, the Bodleian Library is offering a range of classes, events and workshops designed to support Oxford second-year UG historians who are working towards their thesis.

It’s a very exciting time for all budding historians, as it offers you the opportunity to engage in primary research on a subject of your own devising, and to work out arguments which are entirely your own (not a synthesis of the conclusions of others). You will work as a historical scholar in your own right and will taste the kind of academic work undertaken professionally by your tutors.

To understand more about the requirements and support for your thesis, check out the History Faculty guidance on the compulsory thesis.

Doing research on your thesis also means that you will need to learn new skills, deepening your knowledge of resources and sources and how to go about locating and using them. This includes:

  1. Information searching and research skills;
  2. Awareness of the rich sources available to you in Oxford (and beyond) and knowing how to access them;
  3. The right way to handle material, including archives, correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
  4. Knowing the relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.

THE TRAINING SCHEDULE

Most sessions require SSO for bookings. You can find the training programme below – subdivided into research skills and referencing training.

Some sessions are open to other members of the University. Others are exclusively aimed at undergraduates of the History Faculty, University of Oxford.

If you have any queries regarding these or have problems with registration, please email library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

A. RESEARCH SKILLS TRAINING

[Hist Fac UGs] History Thesis Fair – Wed 30 April 2025 (week 1) @ 3-5pm – In person, North Writing School, Exam Schools

This highly popular Fair has Librarians, Academics, Information Skills advisors, Subject Specialists and many more covering many different subjects and aspects of your Thesis prep. Come and talk to dedicated specialists and find out what there is on offer in Oxford and further afield! If you are in a college beginning letters B-N, please come at 3pm; all other colleges should try to come at 4pm – but if you can’t make it during your time slot, just come when you can.

Webinar: ‘Getting started with the new interface of Bibliography of British and Irish History‘ – Mon 28 April 2025 (week 1) @ 4pm-4.15pm – Free online training provided by Brepols 

This short and practical webinar will introduce the new interface of the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH). Advance registration required. 

Discovering Archives and Modern Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs 1 May 2025 (week 1) @ 10-11.30 am – In person, Weston Library Lecture Theatre

This workshop will introduce participants to the key catalogues and finding aids for post-1800 archives and manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries. In particular the session will focus on Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts, the online catalogue for post-1800 archives and manuscripts. The session will also briefly introduce some of the major UK online gateways for discovering archives.

[Hist Fac UGs] Researching Bibliography – Wed 7 May 2025 (week 2) @ 12noon-1pm – On Teams

This online session aims to give you a head start on the skills you will need to track down secondary literature and primary source material for your thesis. A range of library catalogues, databases, web portals and more will be explored to help you make the best use of your time.

Introduction to Online Resources for Historians: Show and Tell (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs 8 May 2025 (week 2) @ 2-4pm – On Teams

A general online introduction to the vast range of electronic resources which are available for all historical periods of British and Western European history. Learning outcomes are to: Gain an overview of some of the key online resources for Medieval, Early Modern and Modern British and Western European History. Know how to access subscription resources. Gain awareness of key examples of useful resources: bibliographic databases; reference sources; primary sources; maps; audio-visual resources, and data sources.

Using AI to Find, Analyse, and Share Information Sources (Bodleian iSkills) – Mon 12 May 2025 (week 3) and Mon 2 June 2025 (week 6) @ 9.30am-12pm – In person, IT Services, 7-19 Banbury Road

This beginner-friendly workshop introduces three GenAI tools (ChatGPT, Elicit, and Perplexity), showing how they can support information discovery and analysis. Designed for those new to AI, it will allow you to independently experiment with these tools and will explore their strengths, limitations, and suitability for different tasks.

Sources for Modern Global History (Bodleian iSkills) – Wed 14 May 2025 (Week 3) @ 2-3.45pm – In person, Weston Library Lecture Theatre

This in-person session introduces key archival, printed and electronic resources, such as finding aids, bibliographic resources and primary sources for post-1800 global history. The focus will be on non-European history but will draw predominantly on English and European language resources.

Newspapers and Other Online News Sources from the 17th-21st Centuries (Bodleian iSkills) – Wed 21 May 2025 (week 4) @ 11.30am-1pm – On Teams

Newspapers are a valuable resource for researching not only news but also many other aspects of political, economic, social and cultural life. In this online session we will introduce key online sources of news and how to make best use of them. The focus will be on historical and contemporary newspapers from the 17th century across most countries of the world.

[Hist Fac UGs] Research Skills for your Thesis: a Workshop – Tues 27 May 2025 (week 5) @ 2-4pm – In person – Sign up required

This session is designed to equip you with key information skills in order to make best use of electronic information and discovery resources. A range of finding aids and databases will be explored, as well as advanced search techniques which can be used in SOLO and other online search tools.

Sources for US History (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs 29 May 2025 (week 5) @ 2-3.30pm – On Teams

An online introduction to primary sources for the study of American history, from the colonial period to the 20th Century. The session will provide an overview of the different kinds of information sources (early printed books, newspapers, databases and official records), and guidance on locating material for research. Collections highlighted include physical materials available in Oxford, Bodleian databases and other online resources.

[Hist Fac UGs] Sources for Medieval History – Thurs 5 June 2025 (week 6) @ 11.30am-1pm – On Teams

This online session provides a general overview of a wide range of e-resources relevant for British and Western European medieval history: bibliographical databases, biographical/reference tools, web portals and collections of online primary source materials of Anglo-Saxon sources, chronicles, charters and more.

[Hist Fac UGs] Sources for Early Modern History – Mon 9 June 2025 (week 7) @ 2-3.30pm – On Teams

This online session provides a general overview of a wide range of e-resources relevant for British and Western European early modern history: bibliographical databases, biographical/reference tools, online collections of early printed books, newspapers, state papers touching on the political, social and religious upheavals during this period.

Working with Sensitive Research Data (Bodleian iSkills) – Tues 10 June 2025 (week 7) @ 2-4pm – In person, Information Skills Training Room, Social Science Library

A workshop outlining some of the key principles to bear in mind when working with sensitive or restricted research. Issues of confidentiality, informed consent, cybersecurity and data management will be covered. The role of support services at Oxford will also be outlined and in particular the role of the Bodleian Data Librarian.

[Hist Fac UGs] REPEAT: Research Skills for your Thesis: a Workshop – Tues 10 June 2025 (week 7) @ 2-4pm – In person – Sign up required

This session is designed to equip you with key information skills in order to make best use of electronic information and discovery resources. A range of finding aids and databases will be explored, as well as advanced search techniques which can be used in SOLO and other online search tools.

B. REFERENCING TRAINING: USING SOFTWARE TO CITE SOURCES

Referencing: Choosing and Using Software for Referencing (Bodleian iSkills) – Tues 29 April 2025 (week 1) @ 1.30-4.30pm – In person, IT Services, 7-19 Banbury Road

Formatting your in-text citations, footnotes and bibliography correctly for your thesis or publication is crucial. Reference management tools make this easier and save you time. This classroom-based session gives an overview of how reference management works, explores the advantages and disadvantages of a range of software packages and gives you the opportunity to try out four different packages (RefWorks, EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero) so that you can work out which one is best for you.

Referencing: Zotero (Bodleian iSkills) – In person: Fri 09 May 2025 (week 2) @ 1.30-4.30pm – IT Services, 7-19 Banbury Road | On Teams: Wed 28 May 2025 (week 5) @ 9.30-11.00am

Zotero is a reference management tool that helps you build libraries of references and add citations and bibliographies to word processed documents using your chosen citation style. This introduction is available in both online and face-to-face formats.

Referencing: EndNote (Bodleian iSkills) – In Person: Mon 12 May 2025 (week 3) @ 1.30-4.30pm – IT Services, 7-19 Banbury Road | On Teams: Wed 21 May 2025 (week 4) @ 9.30am-11.30am

EndNote is a desktop-based reference management tool for Windows and Mac users. It helps you to build libraries of references and insert them into Word documents as in-text citations or footnotes, and to automatically generate bibliographies. This introduction is available in both online and face-to-face formats.

Referencing: RefWorks (Bodleian iSkills) – Wed 21 May 2025 (week 4) @ 2-4pm – On Teams

RefWorks is web-based and helps you to collect and manage references and insert them into your word processed document as in-text citations or footnotes, and you can generate bibliographies. Being web-based, RefWorks can be used with any operating system and, to cite your references in a document, provides a plugin for Microsoft Word on Windows or Mac computers.

Best of luck training and preparing for your thesis research!

New eresources: history of slavery, disability, sexuality – Apartheid South Africa – Palestine and Israel – Imperial China – C20 Japan – Eastern European LGBTQ – Churchill

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We are delighted to announce that researchers now have access to more eresources supporting the study of global history and the history of underrepresented minorities. The resources are veritable treasure troves of documents, reports, maps, letters, ephemera and more. They have a global coverage from the Far East, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

In line with the Bodleian Libraries’ strategy (pdf) to enhance our collections, we committed substantial funding to a set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University.

Thsee resources and others in our ever-growing list of source databases are all accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University staff and students also have remote access using their Single-Sign On (SSO) credentials.

Diversity & inclusion

History of disabilities (Archives unbound)

Front page of History of Disabilities, showing a search box with a colour background of some of the content in the resource, e.g The Battle Creek Sanitarium

History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century provides historical evidence demonstrating how society has interacted with and regarded individuals considered to have disabilities.

The resources provides online access to digitised books, manuscripts, and ephemera that provide a historical view of disabilities from the seventeenth to twentieth century.
Some materials include personal memoirs of experiences with disabilities or the accounts of those who treated them. Rehabilitation, treatments, methods of education, and other forms of remediation are documented.

Reports and proceedings of organizations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities are available for review. Policies and programs concerning persons with disabilities are also available (i.e. labor laws, legal rights, rehabilitation programs, etc.).

Researchers can examine disability as a form of institutional discrimination and social exclusion as well as an empowered movement. Documentation shows how people deemed to be disabled were classified and treated, while some materials show how people have overcome physical or mental challenges in their lives and challenged perceptions of what it means to be disabled.

Want more? See also our Disability History Resources guide (LibGuide).

Archives of Sexuality and Gender: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century [accompanies Archives of Sexuality and Gender LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 Part I and Part II]
This resource looks at gender and sexuality in the centuries leading up to, and inclusive of, the period covered in Archives of Sexuality and Gender Parts I and II, providing context to the materials in those collections. It examines topics such as patterns of fertility and sexual practice; prostitution; religion and sexuality; the medical and legal construction of sexualities; and the rise of sexology. It not only offers a reflection of the cultural and social attitudes of the past, but also a window into how sexuality and gender roles were viewed and changed over time.

Coloured etching of a coloured woman flagellating a white woman

From The Exhibition of Female Flagellants. [With plates.]. London: Theresa Berkley, [c. 1840].
Image Source: The Private Case of the British Library

Three unique collections make up the archive:

  • The Private Case from the British Library, comprised of printed books segregated from the main library from the 1850s to 1990 on grounds of obscenity. It is an interesting study in social mores as the definition of obscenity has seen many changes since the mid-nineteenth-century.
  • Special Subject Units from Sex Research: Early Literature from Statistics to Erotica, a collection from the Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research dating from 1700 to 1860. This is a portion of Dr. Kinsey’s original library which he used to study human sexual behavior from a variety of academic and literary viewpoints.
  • A collection of rare and unique books from the New York Academy of Medicine, consisting of more than 1,400 monographs covering a variety of topics in sex, sexuality and gender studies. From sex education to erotica, manners to medicine, the Academy collection offers a rich combination of materials from the humanities to the hard sciences.

The archive presents content in fourteen different languages, with a predominance in French, English, and German and including Old French, Old English, and Old High German.

Want more? See also our Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies resources guide (LibGuide)

Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, part III: The Institution of Slavery [accompanies part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World]
The Institution of Slavery module explores, in vivid detail, the inner workings of slavery from 1492 to 1888. Through legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources, this collection reveals how enslaved people struggled against the institution. These rare works explore slavery as a legal and labor system, the relationship between slavery and religion, freed slaves, the Shong Massacre, the Demerara insurrection, and many other aspects and events.

A written personal account account from an interview between George Arnold and Samuel Bell.

Indiana Narratives, Volume V. n.d. TS, Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project. Library of Congress. Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (accessed August 9, 2024).

The material contained in this module include:

  • Edward Dixon Papers
  • Edmund Ruffin diaries, 1856-1865
  • J.F.H. Claiborne Papers, 1818-1885
  • John J. Crittenden Papers, 1783-1913
  • Blair family papers, 1755-1968
  • British Library Collections II
  • Caribbean Documents collection, 1699-1959
  • Court Cases and other documents from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  • Office of Registry of Colonial Slaves and Slave Compensation Commission: Records
  • Records related to Slavery from the Colonial Office, Commonwealth and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices, Empire Marketing Board, and related bodies
  • Records related to Slavery from the Exchequer, and its related bodies
  • Records related to Slavery from the Court of King’s Bench, Privy Council, and Treasury: Selected Records
  • Records of the Senate Select Committee that Investigated John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
  • Apellate Case File No. 3230, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (19 Howard 393), Decided March 6, 1857 and Related Records
  • Rice C. Ballard Papers
  • Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project
  • Records of East Florida
  • Benjamin Tappan Papers
  • Caleb Cushing Papers
  • James Henry Hammond Papers

Want more? See also our American History resources guide and Caribbean Studies guide.

Eastern European LGBTQ Ephemera Collection
This collection of ephemera (brochures, clothing items, booklets, flyers, etc.) offers important insights into LGBTQ activism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans in the past decade. It includes 140 items (more than 2,000 pages) of valuable research materials collected by East View in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Serbia.

Asia and Middle East

China and the Modern World: Imperial China and the West, Part II, 1865–1905 [accompanies Part I, 1815-1881]
Provides access to British Foreign Office General Correspondence relating to China. The material relates to the internal politics of China and Britain, their relationship, and the relationships among other Western powers— keen to benefit from the growing trading ports of the Far East—and China’s neighbours in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The FO 17 series provides a vast and significant resource for researching every aspect of China-West relations during the nineteenth century, ranging from diplomacy and war, to trade, piracy, riots and rebellions within China, international law, treaty ports and informal empire, transnational emigration, and translation and cross-cultural communication.

Want more? See also our Chinese Studies guide.

Foreign Office Files for Japan: Module III: Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930[accompanies Module II: Occupation of Japan 1946-1952]
Contains British Foreign Office files relating to Japan between 1919 and 1930. In 1919, as a vital member of the Allied Powers, Japan found itself occupying a new position of international power within a reorganized world order. The files in this section trace the development of this power and Japan’s relationship with the West during a decade of turbulent economic, political and social change in the wake of the First World War. Beginning with the Paris Peace Conference and the ‘Shantung Question’, the files offer insight into the events of the 1920s, from the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the devastation of the Kantō Earthquake, and the end of the Taishō democracy, to the beginning of the Shōwa period, financial crisis and Japan’s increasingly imperialist policies in Manchuria.

"Principal Roads Japan"; map showing national highways (numbered) and other major roads; also showing cities (names), towns and villages.

Images including crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England.

Want more? See our Japanese Studies guide.

East India Company Module 6: Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board [accompanies previous parts]

This module contains 1257 documents comprising of the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners along with IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes. These documents offer valuable insight into the Company’s decisions in the political, financial and military aspects of controlling the East India Company’s vast territory. It also places the India Office into the wider global context of the company’s influence.

A digitised handwritten letter of 21 November 1812 regarding the progress of vaccation.

Correspondence regarding the progress of vaccination in the Bengal Presidency, Apr-Nov 1812. East India Company, IOR/F/4/427. Adam Matthew

Highlights of Module 6 include:

  • Letters regarding vaccination in Bengal IOR/F/4/427/10455
  • Letters discussing the sample of Bourbon cotton sent to the Directors IOR/F/4/840/22475
  • Material about the establishment of Hindu Colleges at Nadia in Bengal IOR/F/4/408/10172
  • Communications between the Nepal government and the Court of the Chinese Emperor at Peking IOR/F/4/809/21721
  • Discussion of the plants and seeds sent from the Calutta Botanic Garden to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew IOR/F/4/540/12989
  • Documents relating ot the introduction of new native commissioned rank of Subador Major IOR/F/4/565/13914

Want more? See also our South Asia studies guide.

Baghdad Observer Digital Archive (1967-1996)
The official English-language newspaper of the Iraqi government from its establishment after the 1963 coup and through the Ba’athist period following 1968, until it ended publication in 2003 due to the Iraq War. It covered significant events in Middle Eastern history, including the Iranian Revolution (1978-1979), the presidency of Saddam Hussein (1979-2003), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and the Gulf War (1990-1991).

Palestine and Israel: Records of the US Department of State, 1945-1959 (Archives Unbound)
This archive traces the period that saw the end of the British mandate in Palestine. Documents address the role of the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations and that of the United States in the creation of the state of Israel. Included here are the Palestine Reference files of Dean Rusk and Robert McClintock, as well as documents from the Mission of the United States in Tel-Aviv. The years 1955-1959 contain instructions and correspondences of the U.S. Department of State.

Most of the State Department’s internal documentation as well as correspondence between the State Department and other federal departments and agencies, in addition to documents from private individuals and organizations, are included in the central files. Documents types comprise official and unofficial correspondence, inquiries, memoranda, situation reports and studies, special reports, and telegrams. The files offer insight into a range of subjects including the politics, laws, military, economy, industry, natural resources, public works, and media of Palestine and Israel. The documents in this collection are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State.

Egypt and the Rise of Nationalism
Includes more than 4,000 primary source documents from the UK National Archives relating to the period of the British military occupation in Egypt. Consisting of British Foreign Office, Cabinet Office and War Office files. This collection captures the development of nationalist sensibilities, movements, and publications in Egypt from the 1870s until the third decade of the twentieth century, culminating with the formal dissolution of the British protectorate in 1924.

Muteferriqa
An online research portal containing an exceptionally rich collection of printed materials published in the Ottoman Empire from the 18th to mid-20th century. It consists of virtually all the books and a large majority of periodicals ever printed in Ottoman Turkish.

Want more? See our Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies guide.

Africa

Apartheid South Africa 1948-1994. Section 1, 1948-1966
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion, and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices. These previously restricted letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activists’ biographies and first-hand accounts of events give unprecedented access to the history of South Africa’s apartheid regime. The files explore the relationship of the international community with South Africa and chart increasing civil unrest against a backdrop of waning colonialism in Africa and mounting world condemnation.

African Liberation Committee Activities in Relation to High Commission Territories, REF DO 216/41

Images including crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Want more? See also our African Studies guide.

Britain and Europe

Bloomsbury Churchill Archive: Churchill Acquired Papers [accompanies Churchill Archives]
The Churchill Acquired Papers contain more than 1,700 documents, spanning previously unseen items such as personal letters, speech notes and diary entries. This resource further enhances the insights that the Churchill Archive has to offer.

  • Notes for Churchill’s first political speech in 1897
  • Letters sent during Churchill’s time at the Western Front in 1916
  • The Prime Minister’s appointment diary for 1944
  • Material regarding the bombing of Dresden in 1945
  • Notes on Churchill’s famed Iron Curtain Speech of 1946

Want more? See also our History (British & West European) guide.

Eastern European LGBTQ Ephemera Collection
This collection of ephemera (brochures, clothing items, booklets, flyers, etc.) offers important insights into LGBTQ activism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans in the past decade. It includes 140 items (more than 2,000 pages) of valuable research materials collected by East View in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Serbia.

Klassiki
This is a video-on-demand platform which is dedicated exclusively to cinema from Eastern Europe – including Ukraine, Russia, and the Baltics – the Caucasus and Central Asia. Klassiki features a library of over 100 titles, spanning silent cinema to the 2020s, a film Pick of the Week feature, and a Journal area of related content including interviews, essays and national cinema overviews. A potentially useful resource to students of film, visual culture and modern languages.

You will need to register the first time you use this resource.

Want more? See also our Film Studies guide.

While you are here, why not check out…

Taylor and Francis Humanities and Social Sciences ebooks 2016-2025

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Readers have been severely impacted by the British Library outage and the loss of access to electronic legal deposit material. To support our readers, Bodleian Libraries have set up an ebook deal with Taylor & Francis EBA (access until 30 December 2025).

Taylor & Francis (including the Routledge imprint) is by the largest depositor of Non Print Legal Deposit (NPLD also known as eLD) material, with over 124,000 items held in the currently inaccessible British Library repository. Calculations from NPLD usage statistics from 2016-June 2023 show that T&F is also the most heavily used publisher (over 30,000 title accesses). Content, usage and requests fall predominantly in the subject areas of Humanities and Social Sciences.

An evidence-based acquisitions (EBA) package for the “missing” NPLD content from Taylor and Francis was decided to be the single most effective measure to mitigate the effect of the BL outage, which has had a far greater impact on monographs and edited collections, in comparison to journal holdings, where our subscriptions and R&P deals have largely covered the effects of the outage.

The new EBA for 2016-2025 (running until end 2025, and adding new content on publication) provide coverage for most currently missing titles and for the anticipated delay in restoring ingest of new publications.

Access has been turned on for current content and the individual records have been added to SOLO. Current content is just over 30,000 ebooks, splitting 60:40 between Social Sciences and Humanities. By the end of the subscription (December 2025), Oxford will have had access to over 35,000 titles.

At the end of the agreement, the libraries can select titles for perpetual access to the value of the deal, with a 17% uplift). Selections will be carried by library staff, with the benefit of the usage statistics during the period of the deal, to inform choices on permanent retentions.

While you are here:

New: GLOBALISE – digitised Dutch East India Company archives for 17th & 18th centuries

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Researchers interested in colonial history and Dutch history will be delighted to know that over 5 million scans of the Dutch East India Company are now freely and fully searchable at GLOBALISE.

GLOBALISE Unlocking the history of early globalisation and colonialism for researchers and the general public. Image of Hougly complex in Bengalen Consisting of approximately twenty-five million pages, the UNESCO Memory of the World-listed archives of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) offer a unique view on interactions between European and non-European actors in Asia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 5 million scans of the ‘Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren’ (1610-1796) of the VOC are now fully searchable. From early October 2023, a prototype of the GLOBALISE transcriptions viewer is online at: https://transcriptions.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/.

These archives not only provide insights into the VOC’s operations but also offer rare glimpses into early modern societies in Asia, Africa, and Australia. For these regions, where few archival sources exist, the VOC archives hold unique and invaluable information, illuminating their multifaceted interactions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This resource is useful for those interested in early modern global and colonial history.

While you are here, check out…

New: Expulsions from German Universities during National Socialism

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We are delighted to report that historians now access have to Vertreibungen aus den deutschen Universitäten im Nationalsozialismus = Expulsions from German Universities during National Socialism via SOLO or Databases A-Z.

This database provides short biographical descriptions of German academics that were forced to leave their academic jobs during the Nazi regime. The expulsion of numerous scientists by the Nazi regime’s brutal policy of exclusion, and the international refugee movements it caused, can be regarded as a significant turning point in the history of science. The “cleansing” of the German universities that began in 1933 led to a considerable loss in Germany’s intellectual milieu.

The text is in German.

Reference entry for Gerhard, Dietrich written by Michael Grüttner. Give brief information on the university, position, birth and death dates, and a brief description of the academic work.

© De Gruyter. Gerhard, Dietrich written by Michael Grüttner. Vertreibungen aus den deutschen Universitäten im Nationalsozialismus. Accessed 8 March 2024

The database covers 1,300 persons who were affected by the dismissals, covering all German universities in detail. The short biographies provide information on academic status and disciplines, religious affiliation, membership in political parties, reasons of expulsion, and also (if applicable) on concentration camp imprisonment, countries of emigration and remigration.

Links are provided to other biographical resources such as Deutsche Biographie.

You can search by person, university, academic displine, birth and death dates. You can also browse by person or academic discipline.

Other related resources (SSO required):

LibGuide for Disability History resources now live

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We are delighted to announce that the Bodleian Libraries’ LibGuide Disability History Resources is now live, just in time for UK Disability History Month (UKDHM).

The guide was created by Alice Shepherd, the 2022-23 History Faculty Library Graduate trainee, as part of her year-long project and was launched at a research seminar, convened at the Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology (OCHSMT) on Monday 27 November 2023.

Alice Shepherd presenting the LibGuide to the audience. The slide on the screen reads: The Oxford Disability History LibGuide

Photo by Isabel Holowaty, 27 Nov 2023, Maison Française, Oxford

Who is the guide for?

It is intended for researchers and students who are studying Disability History and other information professionals supporting researchers. It is also useful for practitioners and members of the public with an interest in (or who have a disability) and wish to gain a historical perspective.

A screenshot fromm the Medical technologies section. It shows a Dental Technology video from YouTube and 2 readigs on the right hand side: 1. Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture by Ryan Sweet 2. Accessible America by Bess Williamson What can you find in the guide?

The LibGuide consists of a collection of research resources crowdsourced during a Hackathon by 24 volunteers in Dec 2022 who scoured the internet for relevant archives, journals and various other useful websites. Over 200 nominated resources were then assessed and organised by Alice to make them as discoverable as possible. The guide conforms with accessibility standards.

The selected resources cover a great variety of topics across different historical periods (ancient to contemporary history).

A screenshot from the medieval section, showing Medieval Disabled Bodies, Medieval Graduate Podcast, episode 4, from YouTube. Shows a reading on the right-hand side for Difference and Disability in the Medieval Islamic World Blighted Bodies by Kristina L. Richardson.The disabilities covered are wide ranging and include, for instance, autism, birth defects, chronic pain, hearing loss /deafness, learning disabilities, mental illness, mobility disabilities, visual impairment, and more.

Resources were also selected for aspects of disability relating to education, employment, medical technologies, stigma and war. The materials themselves may be archives, audio-visual, biographies, books, journals, legislation, newspapers, theses and websites.

The guide also lists Oxford historians researching aspects of disability history.

Feedback & suggestions

The guide will continue to evolve. It is currently limited largely to English language resources focused on western history and we hope there will be opportunities to expand its scope in the future.

We very much welcome feedback and, continuing in the crowdsourcing spirit, invite suggestions for additional resources for the LibGuide which can be made via our Recommend a Resource form.

Many congratulations and thanks go to Alice for her terrific work. We believe that this guide will be an excellent resource to help with the discovery of resources for disability history. Thanks of course also go to the volunteer ‘hackers’, without whom this guide would not exist, and the History Faculty for hosting and funding the hackathon in 2022.

Isabel Holowaty, Deputy Head of Humanities Libraries & History Librarian (Research), Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University

Dr Sloan Mahone, History Faculty, Oxford University

While you are here… we have many other guides for history resources. Check them out!

Access to online Anglican missionary archive resources

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The landing page of USPG. It shows a black & white print of harbour scene, links to browse through volumes and documents, a link to view highlights. and a text box of insights which read: "The USPG and other missionary organisations aim to facilitate the spread of Christianity by appointing missionaries to visit and stay in various countries around the world. Whilst on a mission, representatives of the Church are expected to perform a number of tasks to promote Christianity. This may involve providing a Christian education, engaging in charitable work, and performing services."

America in records from colonial missionaries, 1635-1928

We are pleased to announce that Oxford researchers now have online access to 14 collections of the Anglican missionary archive, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), which have been digitized by British Online Archives. Previously only available in the Weston Library, the digitised material can now be accessed throughout the University and remotely with the Oxford SSO.

The USPG is a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation, founded in 1701, which sent missionaries to many parts of the world and was involved in educational, charitable and medical work as well as evangelization. The material also throws light on social conditions, travel and daily life abroad from the view point of British missionaries and their families.

The digitized material is relevant to British, Commonwealth and global history, covering the 17th to mid-20th centuries. It has been organised into 14 collections which can be found via SOLO or Databases A-Z:

  1. America in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1635-1928
  2. ‘Bray Schools’ in Canada, America and the Bahamas, 1645-1900
  3. Indigenous Cultures and Christian Conversion in Ghana and Sierra Leone, 1700-1850
  4. Colonial missionaries’ papers from America and the West Indies, 1701-1870
  5. The West Indies in records from colonial missionaries, 1704-1950
  6. Canada in records from colonial missionaries, 1722-1952
  7. Indian and Sri Lankan records from colonial missionaries, 1770-1931
  8. Australia in records from colonial missionaries, 1808-1967
  9. South Africa in records from colonial missionaries, 1819-1900
  10. New Zealand & Polynesian records from colonial missionaries, 1838-1958
  11. Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965
  12. Colonial women missionaries of the Committee for Women’s Work, 1861-1967
  13. Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951
  14. ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’: Missionaries in Asia during the World Wars, 1914-1946

Early modern and modern source materials

The digitized material dates from 1635 to 1967 and includes letters, journals, reports, minute books, financial records, statistical returns, drawings, leaflets, questionnaires, school records, press cuttings, and printed books and magazines.

A single page handwritten letter from Franklin to Lyttleton.

Letter of 3 June 1786 from Benjamin Franklin, while President of Pennsylvania, to Rev. Thomas Lyttleton concerning the lease of land for a school.
Shelfmark: USPG Bray/N.America/3/f.2/item 4
©2014 Microform Academic Publishers with permission of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel

Wide geographical reach

The geographical coverage is wide including the American colonies before independence, Canada, the Caribbean, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

A typed page of a 1912 report on a biblewoman by the USPG's Committee of Women's Work. Names and descriptions are filled in with handwriting.

Report on a Biblewoman in India, 1912. Shelfmark: USPG CWW 311
©2014 Microform Academic Publishers with permission of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel

Topics covered include:

  • the establishment of the Anglican Church in north America
  • the American War of Independence
  • slavery and its abolition
  • the establishment of Christian schools
  • indigenous communities
  • women missionaries
  • the impact of colonialism
  • philanthropy
  • the experience of wars including the two World Wars and the Sino-Japanese War

The digitized material represents a proportion of the whole USPG archive which is held on deposit in the Bodleian Library and is available for consultation in the Weston Library.

Lucy McCann, Senior Archivist, Special Collections, Bodleian Libraries

Other useful subscription resources:

New: Women’s Studies Archive: Issues and Identities

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As we continue to grow our eresources collections on women’s history, we are pleased to announce that Oxford researchers now have access to Women’s Studies Archive: Issues and Identities.

Home page of the resource showing a search box and an image of a line of suffragettes holding a poster which reads "Mr Presidents, how long must women wait for liberty".

National Woman’s Party members picket outside the White House in 1917 with the message, “Mr. President, How long must women wait for Liberty” Source: Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 12 © Gale Cengage

This collection traces the path of women’s issues in the 19th and 20th centuries, drawing on primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women’s movements, struggles and triumphs, and provides researchers with valuable insights. It focusses on the social, political, and professional achievements of women, the pioneers of women’s movements, and is useful to understand the issues that have affected women and the many contributions they have made to society.

It is, however, more generally also a useful resource to research WWI, WWII, social and economic conditions, and world events in the 20th century, as described and seen from women’s perspectives and revealed in periodicals, correspondence and papers.

Descriptions of daily life in e.g. letters also reflect on life, society and cultures across the world, including the Far East, Africa, and South America. Some biographical information of individual women and their families is also documented.

Excerpt of a letter reading: "The primary clases here in the school opened Veb [sic] 7, as well as course of admission given for those desireing to enter the hinasio (from the 5th grade through the 9th. The firls are lovely and many are from very fine families. The graduates from the colegio are in constant demand by government employers, business houses, post offices, etc. because the girls are so much better trained, more dependable, honest, efficient, and versatile. They are constantly raising the prestige of the school."

Excerpt of Letter of 6 March 1944 (Belo Horizonto, Brazil), The Gladys Oberlin Papers, 1943-1980, in Women’s Studies Archive: Issues & Identities. Source Library University of Oregon Library © Gale Cengage

Topics covered include

  • the history of Feminist theory and activism
  • domestic culture
  • lay and ordained church women
  • women in industry
  • women’s sexuality and gender expression
  • women’s education
  • women’s movement
  • women’s health and mental health
  • women and law
  • women and the control of their bodies
  • women’s roles and interactions within society.

The collections are:

  • European Women’s Periodicals
  • Malthusian, 1879-1921 (formerly Women and the Social Control of Their Bodies)
  • Women’s Lives
  • Women’s Labour League: Conference Reports and Journals, 1906-1977
  • Committee of Fifteen Records, 1900-1901
  • Grassroots Feminist Organizations, Part 1: Boston Area Second Wave Organizations, 1968-1998
  • Grassroots Feminist Organizations, Part 2: San Francisco Women’s Building / Women’s Centers, 1972-1998
  • Planned Parenthood Federation of America Records, 1918-1974
  • Herstory
  • Women and Health/Mental Health
  • Women and Law Collection
  • Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom: United States Section, 1919-1959
  • Collected Records of the Woman’s Peace Party: 1914-1920
  • Records of the Women’s Peace Union: 1921-1940
  • Women’s Trade Union League and Its Leaders

The sources comes from the New York Public Library, The National Women’s History Project, the London School of Economics Women’s Library, and many more.

Please note that many handwritten and type-script documents will be hard to read as the ink is faint in places.

While you are here, you might also be interested in:

New: Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World

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We are delighted to announce that Oxford researchers now have access to Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World.

This collection provides access to a wide range of materials to help understand the inception of slavery in Africa and its rise as perpetuated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, with particular focus on the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.

It covers a wide spectrum of subjects related to the history of slavery: legal issues; economics; the Caribbean; children and women under slavery; modes of resistance; and much more, from 1490 to 1896.

Snippet from an 1851 court report, reading "Note. The following report is published at the request of numerous persons who are of opinion that all which is known of the operation of the Fugitive Slave Bill should be spread before the public. To the legal profession it will be of interest, as developing new points in the construction and application of a Statute, destined to be of great political importance now and in future history. They will be able to judge of the construction upon the Statute, and of the law of evidence, as laid down and applied by the Commissioner, and contended for by the representative of the Government. Not the profession alone but the public can judge of the temper and manner as to parties and witnesses in which the prosecution was pressed and the judicial duties performed."

Report of the proceedings at the examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on a charge of aiding and abetting in the rescue of a fugitive slave, held in Boston, in February, 1851 / Davis, Charles G. United States. Circuit Court (Massachusetts). Boston : White & Potter, printers, 1851
© Cengage

Sources

Sources include monographs and individual papers, account ledge books, diaries, names of slave ships, lists of captains and crews, details of slave ship seizures as well as description of slave conditions, company records, newspapers, and a variety of government documents.

The resource is also useful for finding European travellers and missionaries accounts (often the only records available to document the evidence of slavery in Africa) and European business records (particularly valuable for piecing together the many wars and commercial disputes among the African powers on the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia area.

Geographical coverage

This resource is particularly relevant in its significant coverage of France, Haiti, Jamaica, Denmark, Portugal, Brazil, Senegal, and many other countries and regions.

Source institutions

The sources come from a variety of institutions including The National Archives (esp. Colonial Office records), Company of Royal Adventurers of England Training with Africa, British Library manuscripts, US Customs Service Records, and more. Material used in this collection include:

  • U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Inward Slave Manifests, 1807-1860
  • U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Outward Slave Manifests, 1812-1860
  • Exploration and Colonization of Africa
  • Selected Records of the Danish West Indies, 1672-1917: Essential Records Concerning Slavery and Emancipation
  • Appellate Case File No. 2161, United States v. The Amistad, 40 U.S. 518
  • Records of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts for the District of Connecticut: Documents Relating to the Various Cases Involving the Spanish Schooner Amistad
  • Records of the Spanish Governors of Puerto Rico, Registro Central de Esclavos, 1872 (Slave Schedules)
  • Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa and Successors: Records
  • Heartman Manuscript Collection at Xavier University Library, New Orleans: Manuscripts on Slavery
  • Africa Squadron, 1843-1861; Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Commanding Officers of Squadrons
  • The Yale University Collection of Latin American Manuscripts, Part V: The Caribbean
  • Oliver Pollock Papers, 1767-1788
  • Vernon-Wager Papers, 1654-1773
  • Jamaica Manuscripts Collection, 1774-1950
  • British Library Collections
  • Aaron Thomas papers, 1798-1799

Sensitive content

Please note that you may encounter harmful and/or offensive material during your research. It is important to approach sensitive topics with cultural awareness and respect for the lived experiences of marginalized groups and individuals.

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