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:

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 17^th 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. 

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.

De 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.

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).

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.

About 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

Help and Support

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

Exeter 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.

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.