F&M Subscription Databases for Primary & Secondary Sources
Access using your F&M net ID & password (not necessary on F&M campus)
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowComprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
- Accessible Archives This link opens in a new windowPrimary source material from 18th and 19th century periodicals. Includes Godey's Ladies Book (1830-1880), Pennsylvania Gazette (1728-1800), Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective (1860-1865), African American Newspapers: The 19th Century.
- African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 by Newsbank This link opens in a new windowOne-of-a-kind record of African American history, culture, and daily life. Covers life in the Antebellum South through the Civil Rights movement and more.
- America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new windowComprehensive online resources offer more than 100,000 early American books, pamphlets, broadsides and rare printed materials. Featuring extensive indexing and full bibliographic information, they together illuminate more than 250 years of American history, literature, culture and daily life. Unique and authoritative, these fully searchable products enable researchers to browse and explore America's past in unprecedented ways.
- America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFully searchable, cover-to-cover reproductions of early American newspapers including titles from all 50 present states. Includes: Early American Newspapers, Series 1 (1690-1876), Early American Newspapers, Series 2 (1758-1900) and Early American Newspapers, Series 3 (1829-1922).
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowDefinitive database of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1955 to present, and also provides full-text coverage of more than 200 journals and nearly 100 books.
- American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1 This link opens in a new windowFully searchable facsimile images of approximately 15,000 broadsides (political materials) printed between 1820 and 1900 and 15,000 pieces of ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900. Ephemera includes: government proclamations, tax bills, town meeting reports, autobiographies, dying confessions of convicted criminals, theater playbills, sheet almanacs, advertisements, patriotic and popular songs and poems. This series is included in America's Historical Imprints.
- American National Biography This link opens in a new windowThe American National Biography includes more than 17,400 men and women whose lives have shaped the nation. Updated quarterly.
- Archive Finder This link opens in a new windowLocate primary resources held in over 220,000 Special Collections in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, with links for contact and access information.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowPublished in print and online 44 times a year, the single-themed CQ Researcher report offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. You can view and search across all of our CQ resources here.
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 and Supplements This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets and broadsides printed in America from 1639-1800. Based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans and subsequent bibliographic works by Roger Bristol. This database includes more than consists of more than 37,000 books, pamphlets and broadsides. Click here to view Supplements.
- Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 and Supplements This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in America from 1801-1819. Contains many state papers and government materials, including published reports; presidential letters and messages; and congressional, state and territorial resolutions. Based on the American Bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker. Provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the 19th century. Click here to view Supplements.
- Eight Centuries This link opens in a new windowFormerly called Nineteenth Century Masterfile, this is an "index of indexes" to periodicals, newspapers, books, United Stated and United Kingdom government documents, documents, artwork, and images published from the 12th Century through 1930.
- HarpWeek: the Civil War Era 1857-77 This link opens in a new windowAccess to Harper's Weekly during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Provides both text and image searching capabilities.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowHathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new windowIndexes articles from English-language magazines and academic journals in a wide range of interdisciplinary fields. Covers 1907 to 1984.
- Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowIndexes over 300 English-language periodicals covering classical studies, history, literature, performing arts, philosophy, and related fields. Covers 1984 to the present.
- JStor This link opens in a new windowA collection of full-text articles from over 3000 scholarly journals, many dating from the nineteenth-century to the last 4 or 5 years. A growing number of titles are available through the current issues, as part of their "Current Scholarship Program". Select Advanced Search to strategically search amongst 45 disciplines. Choose PDF from within JStor to properly view and print articles. For convenience, JStor is now searchable on Facebook.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega This link opens in a new windowFeatures journal content from a wide variety of subject areas, including applied sciences, art, education, humanities, law, social sciences and technology. Coverage from as early as 1982.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowHistorical access to the New York Times (1851-2015), Chicago Tribune (1849-1996), Los Angeles Times (1881-1995), Philadelphia Inquirer (1860-2001), and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1786-2003). Also features recent issues of the New York Times (2008- two months ago) and Wall Street Journal (2008- two months ago).
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new windowThis collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.
- Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) This link opens in a new windowIndex to content from core journals in all areas of the social sciences. Provides lists of sources cited, plus publications citing the original article. Also known as SSCI. Publications from 1900 - present.
- Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new windowIndexes over 300 English-language periodicals covering anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, and related fields. Covers 1983 to the present.
- U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowProvides access to: The New York Times (1980- present), The Wall Street Journal (1984- present), The Washington Post (1987- present), The Los Angeles Times (1985- present), and The Chicago Tribune (1985- present).
- Vanderbilt Television News Archive (1968- ) This link opens in a new windowOver one million video news segments, with searchable abstracts. The archive includes content from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Coverage extends back to August 5, 1968. No current material will be made available until at least 72 hours after the original broadcast.
Free Online Sites for Primary Sources
Primary Source Tips
To better locate primary source material, try adding the following keywords to your Google search topic:
Topic AND "digital collection"
Topic AND "museum"
Topic AND "exhibit"
Topic AND "anniversary"
Also try these terms:
Topic AND "photograph"
Topic AND "image"
Topic AND "letter"
Topic AND "diary"
Topic AND "postcard"
Topic AND "poster"
Topic AND "newspaper"
Topic AND "advertisement"
Topic AND "map"
Topic AND "artifact"
Topic AND "memorial"
Topic AND "speech"
Topic AND "report"
Topic AND "hearing"
Topic AND "account"
Topic AND "interview"
Topic AND "oral history"
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