History Resources

Western Libraries recently purchased the resource Films on Demand, a online platform that provides access to more than 6,000 streaming videos. On average, an additional 600 new video titles are added annually. The library catalogue record is linked here.

Key features of this new resource include:

• access to high-quality educational videos from anywhere with internet access.
• subject coverage includes a wide variety of disciplines: History; English & Language arts; Music & Dance; Art & Architecture; Philosophy & Religion; Political Science; Area Studies; Anthropology; Sociology; Education; World Languages; Health & Medicine; Economics, and Business.
• videos are licensed for instructional use, and can be shown in classes or tutorials.
• search functionality facilitates identification of videos by keyword, by subject, or within specialized collections.
• free-standing, persistent URLs can be found on the "View Video" page, and incorporated into course management systems.

Continue reading "Films on Demand (Digital Educational Video)" »

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Western Libraries now provides online access to Rock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and Protest: Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 (R&R). The library catalogue record is linked here.

R&R explores the period of dynamic social, political, and cultural changes in Britain and the United States between 1950 and 1975, and includes primary sources on key issues and events such as:
• changing lifestyles, 1950-1975
• youth culture
• student protests across Europe and the U.S.
• Mai '68
• popular culture; TV; music; movies
• book, magazine and film censorship
• Civil Rights; Women's liberation; minority groups
• Space Race
• consumerism; credit cards; computers
• Vietnam Conflict
• nuclear disarmament

Primary source documentation includes digital images of a wide range of printed and manuscript material: pamphlets, letters, government files, and eye-witness accounts, as well as the Social Protest Collection from University of California, Berkeley.

R&R contains a wide range of underground magazines, including OZ (British and Australian editions) and an impressive collection of American fanzines and alternative press titles from Bowling Green State University. R&R also contains digital images of thousands of indexed photographs depicting the people and events of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, as well as a collection of carefully selected video footage on diverse subjects drawn from the Huntley Film Archive and ITN Source.

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Western Libraries now provides online access to First World War: Personal Experiences 1914-1918 (FWW). The library catalogue record is linked here.

FWW contains digital images of primary source documents (diaries, letters, personal narratives, trench journals and maps, scrapbooks, objects) relating to World War I selected from archives around the world. The documents are varied in scope, and provide a wealth of information on the personal experiences of war, including:

• daily life and routines in the army and auxiliary services
• trench warfare and conditions in the trenches
• food and supplies
• battles and warfare
• training and discipline
• weapons and equipment
• camaraderie and friendship
• death
• health and medicine
• thoughts on the enemy

Primary source materials are supplemented by a variety of secondary resources, including interactive maps, 360° panoramas and walkthroughs of the Sanctuary Wood Trench System, and a Memory Wall. Also featured are an "In Their Own Words" module, a collection of scholarly essays, a slideshow gallery (photographs, posters, post cards, sheet music), a chronology, and Great War glossaries.

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The D.B. Weldon Library is currently providing full online trial access to two Brill resources: Encyclopedia of Islam (EI Online), and Brill's New Pauly (Brill's NP).

Both titles are recognized as preeminent reference standards. EI Online continues a tradition of current scholarship relating to all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world: religious, historical, cultural, social, political, and artistic over 1,400 years.

Similarly, Brill's NP for the ancient world includes extensive content on all facets of Greco-Roman antiquity over more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe.

EI Online provides access to the complete EI2 (a 12-volume print version is located in Weldon Reference DS 37.E523), as well as to the ongoing 3rd edition containing all-new content (EI3). As is evident from the introductory screen, the two editions are searched separately.

FYI, Huron University College Library is acquiring the print volumes of EI3.

Similarly, the Pauly trial includes online access to the complete English-language version, Brill's New Pauly (Weldon Reference DE 5.N4813 2002-2011). Der Neue Pauly provides online access to the complete German-language version (Weldon stacks DE 5.N48 1996-2003).

Both trials are in effect until December 12.

Because the current access is on a trial basis, neither EI Online nor Brill's NP is yet linked by title in the library catalogue. However, both resources can be found using the Classic keyword search. Both resources are also listed in the Databases by Title listing under "B" for Brill's New Pauly, and "E" for Encyclopedia of Islam Online.

Both trials are IP-authenticated, and permit access from on- or off-campus. If you're off-campus, you'll need to use the proxy server.

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm pleased to report that our online access to the British House of Commons Parliamentary Papers e-resource (HCPP) now includes the full text from Hansard (Official Report of Debates in Parliament), from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, from 1803 to 2005.

The Hansard content can be searched through HCPP's main search screen, via the check boxes for "House of Commons Hansard" and "House of Lords Hansard". Hansard can also be browsed by date or name of Member.

Each Hansard record corresponds to a day's sitting or written answers, and usually covers several topics. The topics themselves are listed at the top of each record, and can be searched through the Subject field on HCPP's main search screen.

The Parliamentary Register, a precursor of Hansard that recorded debates from 1776-1805, is also searchable in HCPP via the check box for "Debates".

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics is a digital library collection of unique resources from Harvard University libraries. The website offers valuable insights to students of the history of medicine, as well as to researchers seeking historical context for current epidemiology.

The collection includes general background information on diseases and epidemics worldwide, and is organized around significant "episodes" of contagious disease.

Digitized materials include copies of books, serials, pamphlets, incunabula, and manuscripts--a total of more than 500,000 pages--many of which contain visual materials, such as plates, engravings, maps, charts, broadsides, and other illustrations. The collection also includes two unique sets of visual materials from the Center for the History of Medicine at Harvard's Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.

In addition, library and archival materials are supplemented by explanatory pages that introduce concepts related to diseases and epidemics, historical approaches to medicine, and notable men and women.

Continue reading "Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics" »

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The D. B. Weldon Library now offers scanning facilities for microfilm and microfiche materials.

Weldon's micro scanner is located in the same area as the micro copiers, on the main floor of the library, immediately behind the Spencer Gallery. Like the micro copiers, use of the micro scanner is on a drop-in basis during library hours.

There's no charge to scan microform materials to a USB device. Scanned materials may also be sent to Weldon's networked public printers at a cost of $0.09 per page.

Point-of-use instructions for the microform scanner are posted adjacent to the equipment. If you require additional assistance, please consult library staff.

Posted by Elizabeth Mantz at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)