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11/06/2024
profile-icon Lee Snook (Exeter)
A kneeling figure showing off a

A range of new archive database collections have been made available over the past few months. Take a look through the latest additions to see if there is anything of interest to your studies or research.

If you would like to know more about any of the resources, just get in touch with your Liaison Librarian

Introducing The Social History Archive

The publishers of Find My Past and British Newspaper Archives have launched a brand-new platform, The Social History Archive, which makes their extensive primary source records available to universities and other institutions for the first time via subscription. When fully migrated, the Social History Archives collections should offer the same access to historical resources as Find My Past and the British Newspaper Archive.

The collections have been organised into two packages:

 
Largest single online collection of mainly British & Irish historical primary source material although some U.S and European records are included. Includes birth, marriage and death records, local, regional, and national UK newspapers, electoral records and census returns, army and war records, crime reports and migration records.(Content, when fully migrated, will be the same as content in Find My Past)
 
The largest collection of historical British & Irish newspapers online and the official source for the British Library’s newspaper holdings. Search for UK, regional and local newspapers. This collection will contain the same newspapers as the British Newspaper Archive when everything has fully migrated. Date range: 1700 to the 2000s.

 

The university is collaborating with The Social History Archive to enhance the platform for researchers and academics. Partners from The Social History Archive will be hosting an in-person event for academics in early December to gather your ideas and suggestions. More details will be shared soon.

Other new resources
A varied range of new archive collections are available, covering a wide range of topics and providing access to primary source materials as well as commentary from books, journals and press publications. 
This includes:
 
Covers the history of environment and conservation efforts across the globe from the late 1800s onwards. Includes British government files from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office and the Ministry of Overseas Development and Overseas Development Administration. Covers topics such as exploitation of natural resources and colonial land use, to agriculture, urban development, the technological revolution, industrial change and urbanization, conservation, pollution, climate, development programmes and sustainability, natural resources and industries such as forestry and mining.
 
This collection provides historical evidence demonstrating how society has interacted with and regarded individuals considered to have disabilities. Includes books, manuscripts and ephemera from the New York Academy of Medicine Library. Most content is US-focused, though there is some European and UK coverage. Date range: 17th to 20th century
New
Mexico in History explores the evolution of Mexico from c.1500 to 1929, from Spanish colonisation and the formation of New Spain through the Mexican War of Independence to the Mexican Revolution. The predominantly Spanish-language material is a combination of print, manuscript and photographic collections sourced from The Bancroft Library at the University of California Berkeley.
New

A collection of documentary record of the origins, expansion and growth of the Olympic Games, and the global history of sport (1890s – 1990s). Sources include correspondence, official reports, newsletters and film footage.

 
Covering C19-C21, this collection covers mainly the US and UK, but also includes coverage of global events. It contains alternative press publications representing anti-establishment and countercultural ideas and movements through art, satire, humour, and alternative lifestyles. Publications include Bizarre, Viz and Fortean Times as well as pamphlet and poster collections.
New
A unique collection of full-text articles and audio interviews from the music and mainstream press from the 1950s to the present day. Content from Rolling Stone, NME, Melody Maker, Kerrang, The Face, Smash Hits and more. Mainly UK and US content.
 

This archive focuses on the social and cultural history of department stores during a period in which they were adapting to evolving consumer needs, workers’ rights and societal shifts, with a focus on life on the shop floor. Includes company archives, trade journals, union records, pamphlets, diaries and a wide range of ephemera. Countries covered are the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France and Estonia.

These resources boost the growing collection of primary source research materials available via the Library.  To see the full range of sources and connect with support materials, take a look at the Primary Sources LibGuide.

We are currently trialling this new online collection:

Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories

This collection brings together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, to provide valuable primary source material created for local audiences by local actors during a period of enormous global change. After the Second World War decolonization movements around the world gathered pace, and from the small port colony of Aden to the vast Indian sub-continent, new borders were set and new nations built.

This recorded webinar explores this collection: https://support.gale.com/doc/webinar-gps-decolonization

The trial runs from now until 17th February 2023.

As always, feedback on collections we are trialling is extremely appreciated. Please send your comments about this collection to n.nye@exeter.ac.uk (Subject Librarian for Archaeology and History).

This year, the Library has obtained access to hundreds of new digital archives, including the full collection from British Online Archives. These include new collections covering missionary, military, trade union, trade and political records including many collections covering the British Communist Party and some new collections on the East India Company. Overall, they offer a fantastic trove of resources for students and staff to explore. 

selection of British propaganda posters

Other notable recent acquisitions include the Royal Anthropological Institute Archive, and the archive of the Hindustan Times newspaper, which covers 1924-2010.

We have also updated our access to collections from Adam Matthew Digital: this includes the final part of the Mass Observation archives (covering the 2000's), a new archive on interwar culture and other new archives on Victorian film and the East India Company coming soon.

In addition, we have secured a deal with Gale Cengage to access a large number of their digital archives, maximising access for staff and students. These new archives include collections on China, Latin America, U.S. History, U.S. and U.K. declassified documents, political extremism and radicalism and the final part of the State Papers Online. Added to these are numerous newspaper archives, topping up existing access and adding access to the Picture Post magazine archive.

 

All new resources are available via our A-Z list, or you can browse by theme, time period or country on the Primary Sources Guide. Newspaper and magazine archives are listed on the News Archives Guide.

04/05/2022
profile-icon Lee Snook (Exeter)

Ukraine flagDe Gruyter and publishing partners are offering free access until 30 June 2022 to selected ebook titles and journal articles to support research into the war in Ukraine and the history of Eastern European relations.

Materials are drawn from over 115 eBooks and 13 journals in fields such as:

  • European History
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Modern History
  • Political Science
  • Slavic Literature
  • Sociology

Find out more about this initiative in the De Gruyter Newsletter or take a look at some of the Highlight Titles.

03/10/2022
profile-icon Natasha Bayliss

 

With news of the discovery of the Endurance in the Antarctic, a timely note that the Royal Geographical Society digital archive includes thousands of primary documents relating to the expedition.

Not only photographs of the ship and her crew but also rare materials relating to the mission, such as Shackleton’s prospectus for investors, as well as papers given by crew members after it (with associated charts).

You can access the RGS archive via the A-Z database listing.

Run a simple search for ‘Endurance’ or ‘Shackleton’ to find material from the Imperial Tans-Antarctic Expredition 1914-1917 (Endurance).

You can also explore Shackleton’s earlier expeditions: National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 (Discovery) and British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909 (Nimrod).

11/24/2021
profile-icon Sarah Jones

Staff and students at the University of Exeter now have access to Research Methods Primary Sources This link opens in a new window Description of this database

This tool, developed by publisher Adam Matthew Digital, is designed to help with understanding and critically evaluating primary sources.

 

 

It includes:

Learning tools

  • Videos from academics on how they use primary sources in their research, as well as insights into the work of archivists, conservators and digitisation specialists
  • Topics such as 'Why are some sources archived and others not?’, ethical considerations and under-represented voices
  • Guides exploring how to critically evaluate a source, find clues, and weigh sources against each other

 

 

Case studies

Over 100 case studies focusing on:

  • source types: correspondence, diaries, photographs and many more different types
  • themes: disability, the environment, gender, popular culture, religion, war and more
  • data: case studies from scholars discussing how to find and analyse data from historical documents

 

 

Practice Sources

Over 300 digitised items from 50 archives around the world, allowing you to practise using historical material.

Picture of laptop and tablet showing Sage Research Methods database, together with books, spectacles, and an appleAbout Sage Research Methods

For several years, the University has made use of the Sage Research Methods database.  This database comprises numerous modules and prior to summer 2021 the modules were primarily in written form; journal entries, books and encyclopaedia.  For 2021/2022, an enhanced portfolio of over 3,000 additional materials has been made available and encompasses video, datasets and research cases, together with learning activities to test understanding

Educators can call on multimedia and lesson content to assist students to build their research methodology understanding and skills throughout their module activities.  Students can explore the realities of research through working with practice datasets and learning from real life research experiences that are featured in the  video and cases content.  This helps bring the research experience to life in a way that is not possible through the book and journal content.

 

Access Sage Research Methods

Login with your University username and passwords to SAGE Research Methods.

 

More about the new content

The new content includes datasets, cases and video

SAGE Research Methods Datasets

A collection of sample datasets and instructional guides that can be used to support the teaching and independent learning of quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques.

SAGE Research Methods Cases

Detailed records of how real research projects are conducted, written by the researchers themselves. They explain why the researchers chose the research methods, how they overcame challenges, what went well, and what they might have done differently

SAGE Research Methods Video

A streaming video collection created to support undergraduate teaching, student reference, research projects and higher level academic interest material. Content includes tutorials, interviews, video case studies, and mini-documentaries covering the entire research process.

Click to see more info on datasets, cases and video

Link to PDF on Sage Research Methods: introducing datasets, cases and videos

 

Help and Support

For online help and support, take a look at Sage's Training Centre.

Link through to the Sage Training Resource Centre

If you are completely new to the Sage Research Methods database then you may like to join one of the upcoming webinars which will give you an introduction to the service.  Upcoming dates are: 

Mon 11 October @ 14.00 BST - RSVP

Mon 15 November @ 14.00 GMT - RSVP

Your liaison librarians are also available for help and support.  Just get in touch if you have questions about the database and how you might use it within your teaching.

07/08/2021
profile-icon Nicola Nye

Exeter Medieval Online hero imageExeter Medieval Online combines the internationally renowned print series Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies and Exeter Studies in Medieval Europe and makes them available online for the first time.

Explore the full e-book collection of over 80 titles in Library Search.

Explore legal material from the seventeenth century through the early twentieth century. 

Together, the distinct collections that comprise The Making of Modern Law cover nearly every aspect of American and British law and dig deep into the legal traditions of Europe, Latin America, Asia, and other jurisdictions, both classic and contemporary. Encompassing a range of analytical, theoretical, and practical literature, these collections support and complement the traditional study of law by featuring valuable books from the most influential legal writers throughout history.

07/08/2021
profile-icon Nicola Nye

A digitised collection of Medieval artworks produced between late Antiquity and the sixteenth century.  

Formerly  known as the Index of Christian Art, the collection has expanded in scope and now includes secular subjects as well as a growing number of subjects from medieval Jewish and Islamic culture.

 

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