LibGuides: History: Key Databases

Introduction to databases

There are two main types of databases that will be useful to you as a student: indexes and catalogues. These aim to provide researchers with comprehensive lists of resources available either within particular institutions or in a specific subject area. Indexes and catalogues will not usually provide full text to all of their contents, but will instead give you brief details about articles or books.

The amount of full-text available will vary from index to index. Often a Connect button will be available and this will either link through to full-text or enable you to search the Library Catalogue for the book or article. Please note that the Connect button does not guarantee that full-text is available.

Below is a list of key databases. You can also find databases by searching the Library catalogue.

If you would like some help in searching databases contact your Subject Librarian.

Databases (login may be required off-campus)

America : history & life This link opens in a new window
A complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Published since 1964, the database comprises over 490,000 bibliographic entries for periodicals dating back to 1954, providing an incomparable research tool for students and researchers of US and Canadian history.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Includes abstracting and indexing for more than 1,700 arts and humanities journals, and coverage of disciplines that includes social and natural science journals. Part of the Web of Science.
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS This link opens in a new window
Supports religious and theological scholarship in graduate education and faculty research. Contains thousands of citations from international titles and multi-author works in the field of religion. Includes a full range of index citations to journal articles, essays in multi-author works, and book reviews from three ATLA print indexes: Religion Index One (RIO), Religion Index Two (RIT), and Index to Book Reviews in Religion (IBRR).
Bibliography of British and Irish History This link opens in a new window
Provides bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with the British Isles, and with the British Empire and Commonwealth. All periods are covered and the bibliography aims to be as comprehensive as is practical for publications since 1900. Over 700 journals and series are currently indexed.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Historical Abstracts is an exceptional resource that covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more - essential for libraries supporting upper-division and graduate research. This authoritative database provides indexing of more than 2,300 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955. History and social science researchers have used Historical Abstracts to discover significant and groundbreaking work for more than 50 years.
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new window
This database includes over two million bibliographic references to journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951. It is unique in its broad coverage of international material and incorporates over 100 languages and countries. Over 2,800 journals are regularly indexed and some 7,000 books are included each year.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that enables discovery, access, and preservation of scholarly content. It enables access to a full-text journals.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Full-text online access to over 300 humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from 60 scholarly publishers. Check 'detailed holdings' for journal availability.

Catalogues (login may be required off-campus)

British Library Catalogue
Search and view the British Library's main catalogue of nearly 57 million records.
English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)
The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) lists over 460,000 items published between 1473 and 1800 mainly, but not exclusively, in English. Works contained are published mainly in the British Isles and North America, and are from the collections of the British Library and over 2,000 other libraries.
Sources (National Library of Ireland)
A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research, contains over 180,000 catalogue records for Irish manuscripts, and for articles in Irish periodicals.

Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Periodicals 1800-1900 Series 2 This link opens in a new window
Series 2 includes all 25,000 of the Series 1 (1997) entries, most of them now updated, and an additional 25,000 entries, for a total of 50,000. It has 4,000 more facsimile title pages for a total of 9,000, and includes 48,000 personal names. For instance, every name in the DNB and Modern English Biography which is associated with a Victorian periodical appears here.

WorldCat
WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content.

Searching databases: quick start guides to finding content

Bibliography of British and Irish History