History

Use the databases below to find articles and other works on your topic.   Additional non-article databases are listed in other sections of this guide. 

America: History and Life 
The main database for findings articles and other works about U.S. and Canadian history 

Bibliography of Asian Studies
Covers all subjects pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia

Chinese Journals Full-Text (CNKI)
Offers full-text from more than 300 journals published in China. Input in Chinese characters is recommended for best results
Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender 
Use to find articles, reviews, and essays about women, sexuality, and gender in the Middle Ages

FRANCIS
A multilingual database covering the humanities and social sciences.  Good coverage of French and Western European sources
Handbook of Latin American Studies 
Lists works selected by scholars from around the world for inclusion in the Handbook

HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index 
Use to find articles and other materials about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States

History of Science, Technology and Medicine 
Describes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations in the history of science, technology, and medicine and allied historical fields

Historical Abstracts 
Find articles and other materials dealing with world history for the period 1450 to the present

History Cooperative 
Full text of history journals from the Organization of American Historians and other sources

IBZ: International Bibliography of Periodical Literature 
Covers research from all fields, particularly the humanities and the social sciences.  It is international in scope, with an emphasis on scholarship from Germany and the European continent

IDZ: Index of German Journals, 1750-1815 
Includes links to some full-text from the project "Retrospective Digitalization of Scientific Reviews and Literary Periodicals of the 18th and 19th Century from German Speaking Regions"

IIBP Full-Text (International Index to Black Periodicals) 
Covers international scholarly and popular sources in the field of Black Studies

Index Islamicus 
Use to find publications in European languages covering all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world

International Medieval Bibliography
Find articles and other materials dealing with the period from 400 to 1500

ITER; Gateway to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Use to find information on topics pertaining to the period 400 to 1700AD

Muse 
Full-text of scholarly journals, including many key history journals

JSTOR 
Full-text archive of scholarly journals many fields, including dozens of core history journals 

Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 
Digital archive of the journal of the Pennsylvania Historical Association

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 
Digital archive of the scholarly journal published by The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Periodicals Archive Online 
Similar to JSTOR, the archive provides full-text of back issue of academic journals

Periodicals Index Online 
A unique resource this database provides table of contents for back volumes of thousands of scholarly journals.  Use to discover earlier scholarship that may not be in more current databases

Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 
Letters, memoirs, posters, broadsides, pamphlets, advertisements, and other documents from the sixties and early seventies.

 Western Pennsylvania History
Digital archive of the journal currently published by the Senator John Heinz History Center

Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Gerritsen) 
Full text books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights up to 1945

Women's Studies International 
Search across ten key databases in Women's Studies

Books and other materials including CDs, DVDS, and more, can be found using the library's online catalog, The CAT.     For more information on searching The CAT consult our Online Guide to the CAT.

If Penn State does not have what you want, use the databases on our Materials NOT at Penn State page to search and request materials from libraries worldwide.  For more information about obtaining materials from other libraries see our Interlibrary Loan FAQ.

E-Books
Many historical books have been scanned and are available online.  To search inside Books, use the E-Books page which contains links to databases and websites that offer full-text of historical works.  A few examples:

• Google Books   Full-text of millions of books scanned from library collections.  Books published before 1923 can be freely viewed online.  More recent works may have limits on access.
• Open Library  Aims to create one web page for every book ever published.  Contains descriptions of over 30 million books, with over one million available as full-text.
• PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf   Online works pertaining to Pennsylvania history.
  

Book Reviews
Many history databases include book reviews for the fields they cover.   Additional sources can be found on our Book Reviews guide.  

Primary Sources

• Primary Sources Databases
• Primary Sources in the Penn State Libraries - Print and Microforms
• Access to Archives and Manuscripts not at Penn State 

Primary sources are created around the time of an event, or by someone who witnessed the event. Examples include newspapers, letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, etc...    For advice on finding and evaluating primary sources on the Internet, see Using Primary Sources on the Web.

Primary Source Databases

In addition to the sources below, the following webpages also list many primary source databases.

• Historical Newspapers  (includes online databases, plus historical news in other formats)
• Historical E-Book Collections (digital versions of early books)
• Digitized Collections at Penn State (Digital content developed by the Penn State Libraries)

American Broadsides and Ephemera 
Broadsides created from 1820 to 1900 and printed ephemera from between 1760 and 1900 

CHANT - Chinese Ancient Texts 
Full-text of early Chinese texts

Civil War Letters and Diaries 
Full-text of writings from over 400 authors, as well as related materials

CQ Historic Documents Series 
Primary sources covering current events around the world from 1972 to present

Declassified Documents Reference System 
Provides online access to previously classified U.S. government documents

Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts 
Seminal works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras

Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation 
Full-text of key works from the 16th and 17th centuries

Digital National Security Archive 
Texts of declassified documents regarding major U.S. policy decisions

Empire Online, 1492-1969 
Original documents on the history of exploration and colonialism.  Emphasis on the British Empire

Making of Modern Law 
Anglo-American legal treatises from 1800-1926

North American Women: Letters and Diaries
Letters and diaries from Colonial times to around 1950

Serial Set (United States) 
Full-text of government publications, including congressional reports, executive and department reports and other documents ordered printed by Congress

U.S. Supreme Court: Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 
Includes appellant and appellee briefs, amicus briefs, petitions, trial transcripts, and more

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 
Documents and essays on U.S. women’s social movements from colonial times to the present

Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Gerritsen)
Full text books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights up to 1945 

PRIMARY SOURCES IN THE PENN STATE LIBRARIES

MANY primary sources are not online.  Use The CAT to find early printed books, government documents, maps, videotapes, sound recordings, music scores and many other types of materials.  Limit your CAT search by date to find documents produced near the time of the event you are researching.

• The Special Collections Library contains original primary source documents. Many of these can be found in The CAT, but others are not yet listed
• The News and Microforms Library contains primary source documents in microformat (microfilm, fiche, etc...)

Below are some keywords you can use in The CAT to locate published primary documents:

• Sources (combine with other keywords for document collections, e.g. Middle Ages and sources)
• Eyewitness or Personal Narratives (French Revolution and eyewitness)
• Letters or Correspondence (add an author's name, e.g. Benjamin Franklin and correspondence)
• Diaries/Diary (Works best with the author's name, e.g. Diary and Anne Frank)
• Documents or Documentary (combine with a topic, e.g. documentary history and Women)
  

Collections of Primary Source Documents Not at Penn State

Personal papers and other unpublished primary sources can usually only be accessed at the library or archive holding the original documents.  These databases and websites will help you discover collections in other libraries, historical societies, and archives.

ArchiveGrid 
Descriptive records and detailed finding guides for archival and manuscript collections in U.S. and international institutions.

Archives USA  
A directory and subject listing of archival and manuscript repositories

WorldCat (OCLC)
Access to descriptive records of archival and manuscript collections in the OCLC database

Repositories of Primary Resources (University of Idaho)
Provides links to over 5,300 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary resources

Ready, ’Net, Go! Archival Internet Resources
Includes links to archival Web pages, international archival portals, and archival search engines

Biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias provide brief essays on historical figures.  They are similar in scope to Wikipedia entries, but are written by authorities in the field.   

American National Biography Online 
Biographical essays on men and women whose lives shaped the nation

Biography and Genealogy Master Index 
Search for brief biographies published in hundreds of specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries.  Use The CAT to find which we own at Penn State.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 
Biographies of noteworthy men and women who shaped Britain's past.

Subject encyclopedias are good places to start on your exploration of a topic. They feature brief essays on historical themes, people, places, and events. The essays are similar in scope to Wikipedia entries, but are written by authorities in the field. They will guide you to key articles and books on your topic, and supply important names, dates, and terms that can help you make informed decisions as you progress with your research.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Full-text of hundreds of subject encyclopedias, including dozens of history titles. An excellent starting point for many historical topics

Encyclopaedia of Islam
The major reference resource in the field. "Islam" is broadly defined to include Islamic culture, history, geography, literature, politics, etc.... 

Encyclopedia of American Studies
Essays on the American experience from precolonial times to the present

JapanKnowledge
Japanese encyclopedias, dictionaries and databases.  Most of the materials are in Japanese.

Oxford African American Studies
Essays by scholars with some multimedia content, primary sources, and a historical timeline

Oxford Reference Online
Facts, figures, and definitions from reference works published by Oxford University Press

In addition to online reference databases, the library also has an extensive collection of print resources.  A few examples are below, but there are far too many to list.   If you are not finding what you need use the contact information on the right sidebar and ask for help! 

Dictionary of Historical Terms  (find in the CAT)

Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing (find in the CAT)

Encyclopedia of World History (find in the CAT)

Timetables of History: a Horizontal Linkage of People and Events  (find in the CAT)

Reference Sources in History: An Introductory Guide (find in the CAT)

As you read books and articles you will probably encounter statistics. The sources below can help you locate additional statistics, everything from the population of London in 1780 to the amount of wheat grown in Nigeria.

LexisNexis Statistical
Search for statistics published by the federal government (ASI), state organizations and companies (SRI), or international and inter-governmental agencies (IIS)

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Published since 1878 -  the most comprehensive collection of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States

Historical Statistics of the United States (Millennium Edition) 
Compendium of statistics from over 1,000 sources

International Statistics
A list of links to online collections of international statistics.  These sources tend to be strongest for the decades after World War II.  For earlier years, we have statistical compendiums in print:

International Historical Statistics, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, 1750-1993 (find in the CAT)
UP Copy: Call #HA4675.M55 1995, Business Reference Collection, 3rd Floor Paterno

International Historical Statistics, Europe, 1750-2000 (find in the CAT)
UP Copy: Call #HA1107.M5 2003, Social Sciences Reference Collection, 2nd Floor Paterno

International Historical Statistics, the Americas, 1750-2000 (find in the CAT)
UP Copy: Call #HA1755.M55 2003, Social Sciences Reference Collection, 2nd Floor Paterno

For more, try our Statistics page, or use the contact information on the right sidebar to ask for help!

Atlases are collections of maps, usually accompanied by text and centered around a theme. There are atlases on topics relating to political history, migration, population, economic conditions, etc...

The majority of the maps and atlases can be located in the Maps Library, B-level Paterno.  A few examples are listed here. 

Oxford Atlas of World History (find in the CAT)

Times Atlas of World History (find in the CAT)

Atlas of World Population History (find in the CAT)

Historical Atlas of Islam (find in the CAT)

Atlas of Medieval Europe (find in the CAT)

Atlas of Slavery (find in the CAT)

Major Collections of Primary Sources

• American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
• Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
• EuroDocs: Western European Primary Historical Documents
• Gallica: Digital Library of the National Library of France
• Making of America: 19th c. books and magazines
  

History Subject Directories

Subject directories provide selected lists of sites. They can be useful to browse to get an overview of the resources on your topic.

Subject directories are useful when you are interested in seeing a broad variety of sources on your topic. Some subject directories include annotations and evaluations of sites. Useful subject directories for history include:

• History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web
• History Guide
• World Wide Virtual Library: History

Not sure about the value of something you've found on the web?  Try this guide to Evaluating historical sources on the web

African American History

American Social History by Eras and Decades

British Parliamentary Papers

Genealogy and Family History

Historical News Sources

Historical Speeches

History of Science

Jewish Studies

Pennsylvania History

United States Civil War

Eric Novotny
History Librarian
Arts & Humanities Library
W321 Pattee Library
Penn State University
814-865-1014
ecn1@psu.edu

Services for History Researchers

or Your Campus Librarian.