Key Databases for History
- America History and Life This link opens in a new window Article abstracts and some full-text articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from the prehistoric era to the present, drawn from international periodicals from 1954 to the present.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Bibliographical coverage of the history of the world (excluding the U.S. and Canada) from 1450 to the present, with article abstracts from over 2,000 journals -- covering 1954 to the present -- plus citations to books and dissertations
To find scholarly articles, look for options in databases to narrow your search results to Academic or Peer-Reviewed journals. 
More Databases
- Academic Search Complete A multi-disciplinary database that provides indexing and full-text access to scholarly and general interest periodicals. Excellent index to use to begin one's research. Coverage begins 1990+.
- Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new window The Alternative Press Index offers online access to articles from a large collection of alternative periodicals, particularly those concerned with radical social change. Common topics include socialism, environmentalism, feminism, and LGBT rights.
- Arts and Humanities Full-Text This link opens in a new window A database of full-text articles on a variety of topics in the arts and humanities, including history, linguistics, performing arts, archaeology, and architecture.
- Gender Studies Database This link opens in a new window This database provides access to a full spectrum of gender-related scholarship, with over a million records from scholarly and popular publications, including journals, books, conference papers and theses. Subjects include gender inequality, masculinity, post-feminism and gender identity.
- History of Science, Technology and Medicine This link opens in a new window A database covering science, technology, and medicine from prehistoric times to the present, including records of journal articles, books, dissertations, and other materials.
- Humanities International Index This link opens in a new window A bibliographic index of over 1,700 U.S. and international journals in the humanities, covering articles, essays, reviews, and creative work in poetry, fiction, and visual arts.
- International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window Records of journal articles, conference proceedings, essays, and exhibitions covering Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa during the Middle Ages.
- Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance This link opens in a new window The University of Toronto's online collection of resources for the study of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700).
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full-text access to thousands of scholarly journals covering the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, plus monographs and other academic materials.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new window The PAIS International database is concerned with current public policy issues and emphasizes factual and statistical information. Print and electronic academic journals in the social sciences are indexed with particular attention to articles that bear on public policy, administration, and legislation.
Background Materials
- American National Biography This link opens in a new window A collection of biographies of thousands of Americans who shaped the nation's history, drawn from the 24-volume reference work of the same name published in 1999.
- Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new window Online access to texts in the Cambridge Histories series, with titles organized by subject, including American history, British history, philosophy, religion, science, and literature.
- Credo General Reference This link opens in a new window A search engine covering hundreds of reference works, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, and books of quotations, plus subject-specific titles covering topics such as arts, business, history, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, and technology.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online.
- Middle English Compendium This link opens in a new window Online editions of three reference works -- the Middle English Dictionary, the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, and the HyperBibliography of Middle English -- plus links to related electronic resources.
- Oxford Scholarship Online This link opens in a new window Oxford Scholarship Online combines Oxford University Press's core scholarly books and powerful research tools into one cross-indexed, fully searchable database, updated with current OUP monographs three times a year.
- Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages A collaborative work of over 600 scholars from more than forty countries, the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages provides 3,000 concise and detailed articles on all aspects of the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century. It explores art, architecture, religion, law, science, language, philosophy, and theology, as well as cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history. With a focus on focus on Europe and Christendom, the Encyclopedia also covers the rise of Islam and people of other cultures with whom Europeans came into contact.
1918 Influenza epidemic (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs)
Primary Sources - Historical Newspapers & Magazines
- Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window 19th and early 20th century U.S. and British periodicals.
- 19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window The British Library's collection of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century newspapers from around Britain and Ireland, with a special focus on newspapers aimed at the working classes and papers that contributed to important political and social movements.
- African-American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window Archive of over 170 historical periodicals, including journals, newsletters, magazines, and bulletins, providing a unique window into African-American culture and history.
- American Periodicals This link opens in a new window "This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Coverage includes the modernist movement in art and culture.
- British Periodicals Collections This link opens in a new window Scanned versions of the full texts of over 500 British periodicals dating from the 17th century to the early 20th, with coverage of topics such as literature, science, and the arts.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907-1984 This link opens in a new window A bibliographic database of English-language journals in the humanities, social sciences, and related specializations such as anthropology, archaeology, and religious studies.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window Indexes popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. Provides indexing of general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
- Harper's Weekly (Harpweek) 1857-1912 This link opens in a new window Historical archive of issues of Harper's Weekly dating from 1857 to 1912, with sections covering the Civil War era (1857-1965), Reconstruction (1866-1877), and the Gilded Age (1878-1912).
- MORE HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS Listings in the Colby Libraries Newspaper Guide
Citation Help
- Chicago Manual of Style This link opens in a new window A complete online version of the authoritative reference manual covering grammar, usage, style, punctuation, and bibliographic citation.
- Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide Sample citations for common types of resources.
The Chicago Manual of Style (2017) by
Technologies may change, but the need for clear and accurate communication never goes out of style. That is why for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style has remained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words. In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords. It recognizes the needs of those who are self-publishing or following open access or Creative Commons publishing models. The citation chapters reflect the ever-expanding universe of electronic sources--including social media posts and comments, private messages, and app content--and also offer updated guidelines on such issues as DOIs, time stamps, and e-book locators. Other improvements are independent of technological change. The chapter on grammar and usage includes an expanded glossary of problematic words and phrases and a new section on syntax as well as updated guidance on gender-neutral pronouns and bias-free language. Key sections on punctuation and basic citation style have been reorganized and clarified. To facilitate navigation, headings and paragraph titles have been revised and clarified throughout. And the bibliography has been updated and expanded to include the latest and best resources available. This edition continues to reflect expert insights gathered from Chicago's own staff and from an advisory board of publishing experts from across the profession. It also includes suggestions inspired by emails, calls, and even tweets from readers. No matter how much the means of communication change, The Chicago Manual of Style remains the ultimate resource for those who care about getting the details right.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (2018) by
Chapters include updated advice on finding, evaluating, and citing a wide range of digital sources and also recognize the evolving use of software for citation management, graphics, and paper format and submission. The ninth edition is fully aligned with the recently released Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, as well as with the latest edition of The Craft of Research.
For more information about citing images, see the library guide CITING IMAGES
Citation software managers (such as Zotero and RefWorks) can help you gather, organize and store citations. They can also automatically create bibliographies! For more information, see CITATION SOFTWARE
Primary Sources
Documents & artifacts created at or near the time of an event. The testimonies, memories and recollections of people who experienced or witnessed the event.
In addition to the Historical Newspapers & Magazines listed on this page, check the following for more options:
- HathiTrust This link opens in a new window A digital library containing assets from over 100 research libraries, with document types including books, images, images, music scores, newspapers, and videos. Use the yellow "Log In" button to find and select Colby College, then follow the login prompts.
