New Resources for Historical Research: The American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912 and Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture and Law

The Cheng Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of two databases containing large collections of primary source material for historical research.

The American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912, on the EBSCOhost platform, provides full-text access to over 7,500 historic periodicals published between 1684 and 1912, digitized from the extensive collections of the American Antiquarian Society, a major research library of pre-twentieth century American history and culture. The periodicals cover a vast array of subjects, including agriculture, applied science and technology, art and literature, business, education, music, politics, religion, and women's studies, and they offer students and faculty broad access to unique source material for research into American history and culture prior to the twentieth century. The database contains scanned page images of the original periodicals, and it supports the bookmarking and annotation of individual documents with a personal account, the export of documents to PDF format, and the ability to create direct links to specific documents for use in course assignments or to share with classmates.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture and Law, provided by HeinOnline, offers a
wealth of full-text primary and secondary source materials for research into the history of slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. It includes legal case and trial transcripts and court opinions, debates, histories, legislative and other government reports, letters, literary works, pamphlets, poems and songs, conference and convention proceedings, organizational reports, slave narratives, memoirs, sermons and speeches, legal treatises, and other materials. Over 1,400 titles representing every perspective from pro-slavery advocacy to radical abolitionism are included. Approximately 75 percent of the materials in the database were originally published in the nineteenth century, but the database also includes both 18th and 20th century works. Personal accounts can be created to store "bookmarks" and notes for selected documents, and to save search queries for re-use.

Both databases are available now from the Cheng Library's website. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Richard Kearney (x 2165), Library Liaison to the History Department.