USAFA Library Guides: HISTORY 363: Getting Started

McDermott Library Resources

British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Regional and local newspapers published in Britain between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Sourced from the extensive holdings of the British Library, this collection covers well-known historic events, cultural icons, sporting events, the arts, culture, and other national pastimes.
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
Sourced from the National Archives UK, Confidential Print: Middle East from the British Colonial and Foreign Offices are digitized primary source documents on Middle Eastern history, politics and culture from 1839 through 1969 that covers the following areas: Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Persia, Suez Canal, Turkey, Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Syria.
Confidential Print consists of various documents issued or received by the British Colonial Office or Foreign Office such as telegrams, treaties, reports, correspondence, and other materials from the British government.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
New content added for Fall 2024: Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories. Search across multiple Gale primary source products through one interface. It combines historical archives covering hundreds of years of history and various resources such as monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, and photographs.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to more than 10 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
The McDermott Library provides access to the New York times through several subscriptions. Choose the option below based on your requirements.
New York Times: Digital Edition
Click here for directions to register for access to the New York Times digital edition for a year with bonus inEducation content.
New York Times
Searchable, full-text access to articles printed in the New York Times from 1980 to the present.
New York Times: Historical Newspapers
Provides searchable, full-text New York Times articles from 1851 to 2020.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Search more than 300+ electronic journals in the humanities and social sciences
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2014 This link opens in a new window
The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, one of the most highly regarded resources for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century news coverage. This historical newspaper archive allows researchers an unparalleled opportunity to search and view the best-known and most cited newspaper in the world online in its original published context. Read by both world leaders and the general public, The Times has offered readers in-depth, award-winning, objective coverage of world events since its creation in 1785 and is the oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication.

Open Access Databases and Websites

Bristol Archives British Empire & Commonwealth Collection
This unique resource includes objects, artworks, photographs, films, papers and sound archives. These were donated by British people who lived and worked in many parts of the former empire and Commonwealth and reflect their occupations and interests. [Note: Only some of the material is digitized.]
The British Diplomatic Oral History Programme
The British Diplomatic Oral History Programme records the recollections of former diplomats. Through these oral histories, which are conserved at the Churchill Archives Centre, the Programme aims to go behind the official documents to explore how diplomats experienced significant events as well as providing valuable insights into the daily workings of diplomacy.
British Library
The British Library's digital collections have limited digital access due to a cyber attack in 2023; however, you can still search the physical catalogue and the British Newspaper Archive.
British Pathe Newsreel Archive
Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. British Pathé was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect. Over the course of a century, it documented everything from major armed conflicts and seismic political crises to the curious hobbies and eccentric lives of ordinary people. If it happened, British Pathé filmed it. Now considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Pathé is a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivalled in their historical and cultural significance.
'British Documents on the End of Empire' Project
The aim of the project was to publish a series of volumes containing an annotated selection of official documents from the UK National Archives, charting British withdrawal from its colonial territories. Each volume has been edited by a leading scholar in the field of decolonisation and each contains a substantial introduction contextualising the collection.
Hansard Official Parliamentary Record
This site has been produced from digitised editions of Commons and Lords Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament. This was part of a project led by the Commons and Lords libraries.
Imperial War Museum Digital Collections
Since its foundation in 1917 IWM has been building its collections in order to illustrate and record all aspects of conflict in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. [Note: Only selected contents are digitized.]
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Freely available online digital collections by the Library of Congress on a range of topics.
UK National Archives Digitized British Empire Collections
Commonwealth Oral History Project
The aim of this AHRC funded project is to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965. When completed, it will include at least 60 major interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organization. The project will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organization.
British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent
The BCA holds artwork for over 200,000 British editorial, socio-political, and pocket cartoons, supported by large collections of comic strips, newspaper cuttings, books and magazines. Artwork in the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) dates from 19th century to the present day, and includes work by over 300 artists including Carl Giles, W.K. Haselden, David Low and Nicholas Garland.
Colonial Film Database: Moving Images of the British Empire
This website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online.

Subject Headings: Searching for primary sources in the stacks

Try combining some of these subject headings with a topic concept to find primary sources in our book stacks. Make sure to select SU Subject Terms from the drop down menu in the advance search when using these subject headings.

Text/Books

Autobiography
Correspondence
Letters
Diaries
Journals
Memoirs
Interviews
Oral History
Speeches
Maps
Newspaper articles
Personal Narratives
Sources

Creative Works

Films
Music
Paintings
Novels
Sculptures

Government & Legal Documents

Congressional reports
Laws
Statistics

Chicago Manual or Style: Citing AI Chatbot

Please note: The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition, has not officially released recommendations for referencing ChatBots and other forms of Artificial Intelligence. Please be sure to check back frequently for any updates.

This citation recommendation is for use in class assignments at the University of Waterloo where you have been asked to use AI generated text as part of your work and provide a reference.

FOOTNOTE OR ENDNOTE:

OpenAI's ChatGPT, response to query from author, February 15, 2023.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE:

Author’s (Parent Company) Medium, Response to “Query in quotes.” Name of Website, Parent
Company, Date accessed, URL.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Response to “Explain to general audiences the possible causes and effects of climate
change.” ChatGPT, OpenAI, February 15, 2023, https://chatgpt.pro/.

From: https://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/chatgpt_generative_ai

HISTORY 363

Librarian

Joel Hebert

Example AI Prompts to Explore Your Topic

McDermott Library Resources

Open Access Databases and Websites

Subject Headings: Searching for primary sources in the stacks

Chicago Manual or Style: Citing AI Chatbot