Database Trials – Women & Social Movements and Revolution & Protest

We’re trialling two resources from the Alexander Street stable of databases for the next couple of months that should interest social science and politics students.

Women and Social Movements, International (1840-present) is a landmark collection of primary materials on the subject. Through the writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and the proceedings of conferences at which pivotal decisions were made, this collection lets you see how women’s social movements shaped much of the events and attitudes that have defined modern life.

Secondly, we have Revolution and Protest Online, which explores the protest movements, revolutions, and civil wars that have transformed societies and human experience from the 18th century through the present. Organized around more than thirty events and areas, representing a variety of time periods, regions, and topics, this collection will include at completion 175 hours of video, 100,000 pages of printed materials (personal papers, organizations, government documents, journals, reports, monographs, and speeches), and more than 1,000 images.

To begin searching WASI, go to http://search.alexanderstreet.com/wasi , and to sample RPO visit https://search.alexanderstreet.com/revo – access to both databases is via IP address and the trials run until 6th March.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn ( s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk) with your comments.

Database Trial – North China Herald Online

This month’s database trial from Brill’s Primary Source Collection takes a trip east as we explore the archives of a venerable Chinese newspaper.

The North China Herald is the prime printed source for the history of the foreign presence in China from around 1850 to 1940s. No other newspaper existed over such an extended period, and covers it in such incredible depth and variety. The fully text-searchable North China Herald Online will be one of the primary resources on a period which continues to shape much of China’s world and worldview.

To begin searching, visit this link:

 http://primarysources.brillonline.com/browse/north-china-herald-online 

Access is via IP address and the trial runs to 18th August 2018.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corns.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Database Trial – Archives of Sexuality & Gender

Our latest trial comes courtesy of the Gale Group, and will likely be of great interest to humanities, media and politics students.

With material drawn from hundreds of institutions and organizations, including both major international activist organizations and local, grassroots groups, the documents in the Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 present important aspects of LGBTQ life in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. The archive illuminates the experiences not just of the LGBTQ community as a whole, but of individuals of different races, ethnicities, ages, religions, political orientations, and geographical locations that constitute this community. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis.

The archive also contains personal correspondence and interviews with numerous LGBTQ individuals, among others. The archive includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more.

To begin searching go to:

http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/loughuni?db=AHSI

Access is via IP address and the trial is available until 9th May 2018

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn ( s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk ) with your comments.

Database Trial – CEEOL (Central and Eastern European Online Library)

Our latest database trial is likely to be of great interest to social science, politics and world history students, the Central and Eastern European Online Library.

CEEOL is a leading provider of academic e-journals and e-books in the Humanities and Social Sciences from and about Central and Eastern Europe. In the rapidly changing digital sphere CEEOL is a reliable source of adjusting expertise trusted by scholars, publishers and librarians. Currently, over 600 publishers entrust CEEOL with their high-quality journals and e-books. CEEOL provides scholars, researchers and students with access to a wide range of academic content in a constantly growing, dynamic repository. Currently, CEEOL covers more than 1.100 journals and 350.000 articles.

To begin searching go to www.ceeol.com – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 17th November 2017.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn – s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk  – with your comments.

Database Trial – ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Our latest online resource trial is courtesy of Proquest’s Historical Newspaper platform and features the archives of the venerable New York Tribune / Herald Tribune.

Horace Greeley, founder, of the New York Tribune, was arguably one of the most colorful and powerful publishers of his time. His editorials influenced the abolishment of slavery, plagued presidents and politicians, and encouraged the settlement of the West. His newspaper featured revolutionary thinkers such as Margaret Fuller, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels. Reform-minded Greeley, whose newspaper had a circulation of more than a quarter of a million by the 1860s, helped form the Republican Party and ran for president in 1872.

Today’s knowledge seekers will find ProQuest’s coverage of the New York Tribune ideal for researching key events of the 19th and 20th centuries, from pre-Civil War tensions and U.S. internationalism to the fight for women’s rights and the completion of the Panama Canal. In addition to politics and reform, this newspaper also reports on the arts, New York society, sports, business and finance, and much more, making it a valuable resource for scholars in many fields.

To begin searching go to:

https://search.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktribunefull/advanced/?accountid=12152

Access is via IP address (or use the VPN from off-campus) and the trial runs to 28th September 2017.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Database Trial – The Cold War

Revisit one of the most turbulent periods of the 20th century with our latest database trial, as we explore the history of the Cold War.

From the end of World War II to the early 1990s, the Cold War was the central driving force in global politics. In addition to nuclear arms races and shifting military alliances, the Cold War years had a critical impact on many of today’s most intriguing research topics, from technology to terrorism, immigration to international politics. No other resource but The Cold War: Global Perspectives on East-West Tensions, 1945-1991, brings together primary source documents from around the world to shed new light on this crucial period in world history.

To begin searching go to http://infoweb.newsbank.com – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 21st July 2017.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Database Trial – British Online Archives

Our latest online trial dips into some of the historical resources of the renowned British Online Archives.

Home to over seventy digitised primary source collections, BOA continues to dedicate itself to teaching and research within the Humanities and Social Sciences. Their globally-related collections, ranging from colonial, missionary and transatlantic relations to twentieth century political and social development, cover four-hundred years of world history. Their dedication to academic excellence through collaboration with the United Kingdom’s leading libraries, archive repositories and academic experts ensure that BOA remains at the forefront of Higher Education teaching and research.

We are trialling several components from their Political History and Slavery resources collection. Please follow these links to the content you need:

Political History

Independent Labour Party: Formation and Development

British Labour Party Papers: 1906 – 1969

British Labour Party Papers: 1968-69 1993-94 Scottish Nationalist Leaflets – 1844 – 1973

British women trade unionists on strike at Bryant & May, 1888

Slavery

Slavery in Jamaica, records from a family of slave owners, 1750 – 1860.

Slavery: Its supporters and abolitionists, 1675, 1865

Slave trade records from Liverpool 1754, 1792

Slave trading records from William Davenport & Co, 1745 – 1797

Access is via IP address and the trial runs to 10th July 2017.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments

Database Trial – Socialism on Film

Our second trial of the month, Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda, revisits some of the most turbulent periods and regions of 20th Century as captured on film.

This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.

To begin searching go to http://www.socialismonfilm.amdigital.co.uk– access is via IP address and the trial runs to 29th May 2017.

Please note that PDF download options are not available during this trial.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Database Trial – Race Relations in America

This month we’re trialling Race Relations in America, an in-depth resource that should be of great interest to social scientists, historians and budding politicians.

Based at Fisk University from 1943-1970, the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute were set up by the American Missionary Association to investigate problem areas in race relations and develop methods for educating communities and preventing conflict.

Documenting three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights, this resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall.

To begin searching go to http://www.racerelations.amdigital.co.uk – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 29th May 2017.

*Please note that PDF download options are not available during this  trial.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Join the Revolution at the British Library

The British Library commemorates the 100th anniversary of one of the most crucial events in modern history this summer in its new exhibition, Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths, which starts today.

From the fall of Russia’s last Tsar to the rise of the first communist state, this definitive exhibition takes a fresh look at the Russian Revolution 100 years on. With rarely seen items from both sides of the conflict, from a first edition of the Communist Manifesto to anti-Bolshevik propaganda, and – for the first time on public display from the British Library’s own archive – Lenin’s handwritten application for a Reader Pass, this is a unique chance to understand the lesser-known personal stories behind the events that changed the world.

Uniting the political and the personal, explore the Russian Revolution’s central characters, most notably Lenin and Trotsky, alongside the tales of ordinary people living through extraordinary times, and how events in Russia in 1917 transformed the international landscape forever and shaped the world we live in today.

The exhibition runs until 29th August and is accompanied by a range of revolution-themed special events and activities. For further details, visit the British Library website.