Primary Source Collections
- America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new window
- American Fiction, 1774-1920 This link opens in a new window
- Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th century (History Vault) This link opens in a new window
- British Literary Manuscripts I, 1660-1900 This link opens in a new window
- Clotel, or The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (Rotunda) This link opens in a new window
- Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture (1790-1920) This link opens in a new window
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) (1470 - 1700) This link opens in a new window
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
- Empire Online This link opens in a new window
- First World War: Personal Experiences & The First World War: Propaganda and Recruitment This link opens in a new window
- HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
- Literary Manuscripts (Berg) This link opens in a new window
- Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive, 1554-2007 This link opens in a new window
- Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new window
- Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 (Parts I and II) This link opens in a new window
- Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape This link opens in a new window
- Twentieth-Century American Poetry This link opens in a new window
- Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window
- Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new window
Free Full-text Sources
Tools & Tips for Finding Archives, Rare Books, Special Collections
- ArchiveGridArchiveGrid is an important destination for searching for historical documents, personal papers and family histories held in archives throughout the world. ArchiveGrid is an online service that provides access to detailed archival collection descriptions. It includes nearly a million descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide. Can be searched via ArchiveGrid in WorldCat.org.
- Archive FinderArchive Finder is a current directory which describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
- Archives Portal EuropeThe Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent.
- WorldCat.orgInformation about books, journal titles, videos, and materials in other formats owned by U.S. and foreign libraries. Select ARCHIVAL MATERIAL under FORMAT to limit to items in archives and finding aids.
- WorldCat (via FirstSearch)Information about books, journal titles, videos, and materials in other formats owned by U.S. and foreign libraries. Select ARCHIVAL MATERIALS to limit to archive items and finding aids.
- H-NetDiscussion networks in Humanities and Social Science disciplines.
- World guide to special libraries (2007)A comprehensive directory of special libraries worldwide. It includes major central libraries such as the National Library of Medicine departmental and institute libraries, corporate and administrative libraries, ‘classic’ special libraries such as the Bibliothèque artistique de la ville de Bruxelles and general libraries with major specialized holdings.
- Repositories of Primary SourcesA listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar
World Guide to LibrariesCall Number: Z721 .I63 4o (Olin Level 1 Reference)ISBN: 9783110277968Publication Date: Latest ed.: 2014
Articles Describing Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States by Call Number: CD3022 A2 D478 1997 (Olin level 1 Reference)Publication Date: 1997
British Archives: A guide to archive resources in the United Kingdom by Call Number: CD1040 .F67 2002 (Olin Level 1 Reference)Publication Date: 2002
Archives in Germany : an introductory guide to institutions and sources by Call Number: CD1220 .A78 2001Publication Date: 2001Also available online
American Author Houses, Museums, Memorials and Libraries by Call Number: PS141 .B54 2000ISBN: 0786407778Publication Date: 2000
Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies by Call Number: Z2011 .H34 2008 (Olin level 1 reference; West Campus)ISBN: 9780873528085Publication Date: 2008-01-01Not just about English--Includes foreign language literatures. Also includes sources for rare books, special collections, and archives
A Guide to the OCLC Database and the Special Collections Therein by Call Number: Z688 A2 G95 1984Publication Date: 1984- Guide to Hebrew Manuscript Collections / by Benjamin Richler.Call Number: Z6605.H4 R473 2014ISBN: 965208185XPublication Date: 2014
Subject Collections: A Guide to Special Book Collections and Subject Emphases As Reported by University, College, Public, and Special Libraries and Museums in the United by Call Number: Z731 A78 1961ISBN: 9780835231411Publication Date: 1993-01-01
Additional directories and sources in WU Catalog
Browse by [term] -- [country] -- Directories
Search topic as a subject with keywords: archives, catalogs, sources, or manuscripts.
- Consult with faculty advisors, subject librarians, and curators/archivists who often will have personal contacts or sources
- Look at bibliography/references in monographs on your subject.Often archival sources will be listed separately.
- Look at scholarly organizations (e.g. American Historical Association) or literary socieities (e.g. Int'l Brecht Society)
- Search in subject databases (e.g. MLA Int'l Bibliography)
- Archives and Special Collections are often indexed in Google.
- May need to search using foreign terms (e.g. Nachlass [German equivalent "unpublished papers"], archivo [Spanish term for "archives"])
- Dictionary of archival terminology (terms in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian, & Spanish). Call number: CD945 D53 1988 (Olin level 3)
- Multilingual Archival Terminology (online)