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History 2403 – Primary Sources
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History 2403
Europe and England in the 16th and 17th Centuries
Finding Primary Sources
A) Use the Shared Library Catalogue - http://alpha.lib.uwo.ca
1. Add subject headings to your keyword search
You can locate primary sources through the catalogue by doing a keyword search and
then adding one of the special subject terms to your search
 Correspondence
 Diaries
 Interviews
 Personal Narratives
 Sources
For example: history AND AND britain AND sources
(britain or england) AND women AND diaries
2. Browse subject headings
You can browse the library catalogue`s holdings by searching for specific subject
headings. Here are some subject headings to start with:
 Great Britain -- History -- 16th Century -- Sources
 Great Britain -- History -- 17th Century -- Sources
 Great Britain -- Social Conditions -- 16th Century -- Sources
 Great Britain -- Social Conditions -- 17th Century -- Sources
 Great Britain -- Economic Conditions -- 16th Century – Sources
 Great Britain -- Statistics
 etc...
3. Look up specific historical figures
If you know of a specific person or organization from the time period you`re concerned
with, look under that person as an author or as a subject heading to see if we have
memoirs, diaries, or correspondence
You can also look for organizations as an author or a subject heading (i.e. “great britain
parliament”).
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History 2403 – Primary Sources
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B) Print resources available through Western Libraries – Specific Topics
1. History 2403 Resources
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/history/history2403eresources.html
(www.lib.uwo.ca – Program Guides – History – Course Help for History – History 2403)
List of print materials available at Western Libraries, organized by appropriate topics for
History 2403 essays. Resource compiled by History librarian at Western Libraries.
C) Databases through Western Libraries – Most topics
(Available through www.lib.uwo.ca/databases except where indicated)
1. Early English Books Online – up to 1700
Early English Books Online (EEBO) is a major research collection providing images of
over 100,000 imprints from 1475 to 1700. Publications in English and foreign languages
printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, British America are included, plus English
books printed in other countries from 1641-1700.
2. Eighteenth Century Collections Online – 1701-1800
A comprehensive full-text, full-image archive of approximately 150,000 titles consisting
of books, pamphlets, broadsides and ephemera printed in the United Kingdom and the
Americas between 1701 and 1800.
3. English Short Title Catalogue – 1475-1700
The English Short Title Catalogue provides extensive descriptions and holdings
information for letterpress materials printed in Great Britain or any of its dependencies in
any language—as well as for materials printed in English anywhere else in the world.
4. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - http://alpha.lib.uwo.ca/record=b4723820
An illustrated collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies of the men and
women from around the world who shaped all aspects of Britain's past.
D) Databases through Western Libraries – For Specific Topics
(Available through www.lib.uwo.ca/databases except where indicated)
1. British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries: from 1500-1900
Spans more than 400 years of personal writings, bringing together the voices of women
from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
2. Defining Gender, 1450-1910
A collection of over 50,000 images from original documents relating to Gender Studies.
3. In the First Person
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History 2403 – Primary Sources
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In the First Person is a free, high quality, professionally published, in-depth index of
close to 4,000 collections of personal narratives in English from around the world,
including diaries, letters and more.
4. Empire Online, 1492-1969
This database offers 60,000 images of original documents linked to essays by leading
scholars in the field of (British) Empire Studies
5. Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice
This resource is designed as a portal for slavery and abolition studies, and brings
together documents and collections covering the time period 1490-2007, drawn from
libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. The collection documents key aspects of
the history of slavery worldwide, including the African Coast, the Middle Passage,
varieties of slave experience, religion, revolts, abolition, and legislation.
E) Academic Research as Primary Resource – Specific Topics
1. Historical Abstracts
Provides abstracts to dissertations and scholarly articles and books on world history
from 1450 to the present. (Except the United States and Canada which is covered in
AMERICA, HISTORY AND LIFE.) Coverage includes all branches of world history:
political; diplomatic; military; economic; social; cultural; religious; and intellectual. The
database also covers the history of science, technology, and medicine.
2. JSTOR
Provides access to full text, full image scholarly literatureacross all disciplines. Contains
archival holdings of major research journals, including 177 History-related publications.
3. Bibliography of British and Irish History
Provides bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with the British Isles, and with
the British Empire and Commonwealth, during all periods for which written
documentation is available, from 55BC to the present.
4. Eighteenth Century Journals: A Portal to Newspapers and Periodicals, c1685-1815
The Eighteenth Century Journals Portal consists of rare newspapers and journals
illuminating all aspects of 18th-century social, political and literary life. Many materials
are ephemeral, lasting only for a handful of issues, while others run for several years.
Together, they offer effective coverage of the important issues of the period, and are
invaluable to the study of all aspects of the eighteenth century, including crime, sport,
advertising, the theatre; fashion; politics, revolution ; agriculture ; social issues and
society life.
5. 19th Century Masterfile (Books, newspapers, periodicals)
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History 2403 – Primary Sources
Indexes nineteenth century literature, including newspapers, periodicals, books, and
government publications.
For more information, see:
Heather Campbell
Library Instruction Coordinator
Beryl Ivey Library, Brescia University College
heather.campbell@uwo.ca
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