Research Guides: HIST 2280: The Historian's Craft: Home

Find Background Information

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL). A growing collection of reference books. Subjects include history, philosophy, religion, science, business, careers, literature, law, medicine, education, and more....more.

Find Scholarly Secondary Sources

Search for peer-reviewed secondary sources (journal articles and books) using SLUth Search Plus. It searches more than 100 library databases, including several history databases (Historical Abstracts, America: History & Life, JSTOR, Project Muse, Bibliography of Asian Studies) and the SLU Libraries Catalog.

Learn how to use SLUth Search Plus by watching this short video.

Note: Two of the databases in this list, the International Medieval Bibliography and Iter Bibliography, are not included in SLUth Search Plus. They have to be searched separately.

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Covers the world's scholarly literature on the history of the world, except the United States and Canada, from the 15th century to the present.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Covers the world's scholarly literature on the history of the United States and Canada.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This primarily archival journal resource and current scholarship program provides access to full-text of approximately 1200 unique journal titles, many of which are in the humanities.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to hundreds of scholarly journals and open access ebooks from over 200 university and not-for-profit presses primarily in humanities and social sciences.
Bibliography of Asian Studies This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles, books, and chapters in edited books for information about the culture and civilizations in East, Southeast, and South Asia.
International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Covers the European Middle Ages (c. 400-1500) indexes articles and review articles from about 4,500 journals, essays from Festschriften, conference proceedings, etc.
Iter Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Iter is the "Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance." It indexes secondary source articles about the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700) drawn from complete runs of over 1,900 journal titles publishing articles about this period, as well as over 12,400 essay collections.

If you're looking specifically for books and ebooks, you might prefer using the Saint Louis University Libraries' Catalog.

Look for books published by university presses and scholarly associations, written by authors with degrees and credentials in the field. Scholarly or academic books will also cite their sources and will have a lengthy list of references.

Learn how to find books on a topic using the SLU Libraries Catalog by watching this short video.

What are Primary Sources?

Source: University of Illinois History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library - Tutorial Transcript

Link for Close Reading Activity

Japanese Americans, Internment of
From Encyclopedia of War and America Society, Vol. 1.

Find Primary Sources

You can find primary sources in the SLU Libraries by searching the SLU Libraries Catalog by searching for a specific title, author, or by keyword or subject.

Words that describe primary sources in Library of Congress subjects in the catalog include: correspondence, diaries, sources, interviews, letters, documents, writings, etc.

Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Contains page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere between 1473 and 1700. Transcriptions are available for more than 40% of these titles. more.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Delivers every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in Great Britain during the eighteenth century (1701-1800), along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Subjects include English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science. Cross-searchable with EBBO....more.
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A shared digital repository that includes holdings of more than 60 major research institutions and libraries….more.
AAS Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides digital access to 50 thematic series of American magazines and journals published between 1684 and 1912 and collected by the American Antiquarian Society...more.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search across the following historical newspapers at one time: Chicago Defender (July 1909-1975), Chicago Tribune (1849-1996), Kansas City Call (1919-2010), Los Angeles Times (1881-2014), The New York Times (1851-2016) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1874-2003)....more.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
1780-1925. Collection of primary source materials created during the "long nineteenth century" (late 1700s to early 1900s). Includes books, periodicals, diaries, letters, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, maps, sheet music, and more….more.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Provides access to approximately 1.7 million pages (over 28 million articles) of primary source newspapers published in the 19th century, which include newspapers from cities and rural areas throughout the United States....more.
Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985 This link opens in a new window
1785-1985. Search the first 200 years of The Times (London) and display and print page images of individual articles or an entire page....more.
AAS Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides digital access to 50 thematic series of American magazines and journals published between 1684 and 1912 and collected by the American Antiquarian Society...more.
Economist Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
1843-2015. Search over 160 years of the digital archive of The Economist (London) by keyword or browse by date. All articles, financial tables (that are also exportable), special reports, surveys, and advertising are searchable….more. (GB)
Archives Unbound: All Subscribed Collections This link opens in a new window
Archives Unbound consists of discrete, topically-focused digital collections of historical documents. SLU currently subscribes to seven collections covering aspects of African American history, the Holocaust, and women….more.
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A shared digital repository that includes holdings of more than 60 major research institutions and libraries….more.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Congressional materials indexed (including selected full text) include U.S. legislative information such as congressional hearings, committee prints and reports, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, American State Papers, Congressional Research Services (CRS) Reports and more. Full text of selected Executive Branch Documents (from 1789-1948) are also included. Full text of all Congressional Hearings and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set is included.

Internet History Sourcebooks
A collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts (primary sources) for educational use. See: Ancient, Medieval, Islamic, and Scientific sourcebooks.

HIST 2280: The Historian's Craft

History Librarian

Find Background Information

Find Scholarly Secondary Sources

SLUth - Search Plus

What are Primary Sources?

Link for Close Reading Activity

Find Primary Sources