British History: Finding Articles
START OUT WITH
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are restricted to Columbia affiliates.
The single most comprehensive resource for the study of British, Irish, and British Imperial History is:
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Bibliography of British and Irish history (BBIH)
The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) 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. It is the successor to the Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History.
Depending on the nature of your research, and the range of countries involved, there are two other core databases that you may want to search in addition to BBIH:
- Historical Abstracts
Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present . Provides listings for journal articles, book articles, books, and dissertations. Covers more than 2,000 journals published throughout the world.
and/or
- America: History and Life
Covers writings about the history and culture of United States and Canada from prehistory through the recent past. Provides listings for journal articles, book articles, book reviews, media reviews, and dissertations, along with brief summaries of journal and book articles. Also provides links to full text for selected journal articles.
MULTI-DATABASE SEARCHING
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EBSCOhost research databases. This link opens in a new windowAllows you to search simultaneously across more than one hundred databases in a wide range of subject areas. Includes major access points for current and recent journal articles such as: Humanities Full Text; General Science Full Text; and Social Sciences Full Text. Also includes a number of more specialized resources such as Africa-Wide Information; Alternative Press Index; and Gender Studies Database. A substantial range of ebooks is also searchable here, as well as a series of historical magazines archives that provides cover-to-cover, full image access for major American magazines such as Business Week, Life, Time, and Sports Illustrated.
- Gale Newsvault (Gale)
Includes full text access for the following key British publications from their first issue up until recent years: The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2015; Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010; Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004; The Times Digital Archive, 1785-2013; The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2014; and The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2006. (For current coverage of some of these titles, use Factiva.) Also includes deep historical collections such as: 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers; 19th Century British Library Newspapers; and 19th Century UK Periodicals.
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ProQuest This link opens in a new windowAllows you to search simultaneously across more than one hundred databases in a wide range of subject areas, such as: news and world affairs; humanities; education; social sciences; literature; women's studies; business and economics; health and medical; science and technology; psychology; and law. Most of the content covered here is accessible in full text. Along with academic journals, ProQuest provides access to a wide range of newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. The span of articles covered stretches back as far as the 17th century and up to the present day.
SELECTED NOTEWORTHY DATABASES
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Book review digest plus (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowBook Review Digest Plus is an essential library tool that brings together book reviews on a wide range of topics, from a variety of sources. Unlike reviews on book-sale sites and the open Internet, many of the reviews are serious, academic works. This invaluable resource for literary and biographical research is essential for readers' advisory and collection development.
- British Humanities Index: BHI
An international abstracting and indexing tool for research in the humanities, BHI indexes over 320 internationally respected humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the UK and other English speaking countries, as well as quality newspapers published in the UK. Topics include architecture, archaeology, art, antiques, education, economics, foreign affairs, environment, cinema, current affairs, gender studies, history, language, law, linguistics, literature, music, painting, philosophy, poetry, political science, religion, and theatre
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Factiva This link opens in a new windowFactiva provides access to global news and business information, including local newspapers, same-day newswires, company reports, and media programs. Provides company information including market data and competitors.
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Periodicals archive online This link opens in a new windowArchive of hundreds of digitized journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
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Victorian database online This link opens in a new windowSearches over 100,000 records listing books, articles, and dissertation abstracts published from 1945 to the present on every field of nineteenth-century British studies.