Research Guides: HST 387: The Last Great Muslim Empires: Primary Sources

Find Primary Sources

ONLINE PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTIONS

The resources listed below are just a few of the online primary source resources available through ZSR Library and on the web. If you are unable to find information on your topic, schedule a personal research session with a librarian for more help!

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969
Complete volumes of all British Government Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. All items marked ‘Confidential Print’ were printed and circulated immediately to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet and to heads of British missions abroad. Coverage: 1839-1969
HathiTrust Digital Library
Full-text seachable library of high-quality digitized materials such as books, articles, government information, and more from libraries around the world. Includes public domain and in-copyright content. Log in as a WFU user to download PDFs and access additional features. Coverage: Varies
Early English Books Online - EEBO
Full text of books, pamphlets and broadsides published in England or in English between 1475 and 1700. Includes many of the items indexed in the English Short Title Catalogue. Corresponds to the Pollard and Redgrave, and Wing Short-Title Catalogues, as well as Thomason Tracts. Coverage: 1473-1700
Eighteenth Century Collections Online - ECCO
Contains books, pamphlets and broadsides published in England or in English between 1701 and 1800. Includes many of the items indexed in the English Short Title Catalogue. Coverage: 1701-1800
Empire Online
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology. Coverage: 1400s-present
India, Raj and Empire
Explore the history of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
Making of the Modern World
Provides full-text, searchable access to primary source materials that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth from the period 1450-1914. Coverage: 1450-1914

ONLINE HISTORICAL PERIODICAL SOURCES

To locate a particular newspaper, search for the title in Find a Journal. You will see options for both print and electronic access, if available. Use keywords (such as names, places, and events) and date limiters to find articles on your particular topic.

Times Digital Archive (1785-2014)
Searchable, full-text, page image access to the Times of London, sometimes called the "world's newspaper of record." Access goes back to the first issue.
British Periodicals
Provides searchable, full page image digital access to British journals published between the late 1600s and early 1900s. Topics covered include, literature, art, music, architecture, drama, history, science, and more. Includes access to collections I & II. Coverage: 1680s-1930s
Times of India (1838-2010)
Provides searchable, full-text, page image access. Founded in 1838 to serve the British residents of West India, The Times of India is now the largest English daily newspaper in the world. Access goes back to the first issue. Coverage: 1838-2010

Tips for Locating Primary Sources

Choose historically appropriate keywords. For example, use "Great War" instead of "World War I" to locate documents discussing the war during and just after it occurred. You may also consider different terms that might have been used to describe the same event from opposing sides or perspectives. Searching for the names of particular people or places may also be effective.

Think about what types of primary sources might have been produced that would be relevant to your topic; think also about which persons or organizations might have produced materials. Some possible types of sources:

Books	Photographs and images
Magazine and newspaper articles	Cartoons and advertisements
Diaries and journals	Movies, videos, and DVDs
Memoirs and autobiographies	Audio recordings
Interviews	Public opinion polls
Letters	Fiction
Speeches	Research data and statistics
Documents produced by organizations	Documents produced by government agencies, including congressional hearings and census records

To locate potential primary sources in the library's online catalog, look for subject headings that contain terms such as diaries, letters, correspondence, autobiography, interviews, or personal narratives following the main heading.