Interdisciplinary and general databases

Subject-specific databases

Retrospective journals and indexes: 20th century

Retrospective journals and indexes: 19th century

Retrospective journals and indexes: 18th century

Transatlantic Slavery and Abolition 

Gender

Law

This section provides access to historical newspapers up to the mid-20th century. For a more comprehensive guide use: Newspapers Current and Historical

Sources for historical international newspapers

Canadian historical newspapers

U.S. Historical Newspapers

U.S. Individual Historical Newspapers 

United Kingdom and Ireland Historical Newspapers 

Images

See the Image and Visual Resource Collections guide for a comprehensive links to image and visual resource databases. A few major resources are listed below.

Oral History

Oral history may be in manuscript, print, microform, audio, or video format. It may be identified through a variety of tools throughout this guide, using relevant keywords.

For example, to find oral histories in the library catalogue, use keywords such as the following with your subject:

oral history

oral histories

testimonies

interview

Indexes to Archival Collections

Locating archival collections (including those in U of T Libraries) often requires searching archival databases or visiting the website of the archival repository. Some key databases are listed here.

For more details on finding theses, consult the Theses & Dissertations research guide.

Finding Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

To find history research related encyclopedias and dictionaries in the library catalogue follows these steps:

1) Access Subjects A to Z on the Library home page, and choose a subject, such as:

History

2) Use the library catalogue advanced search

Enter your topic followed by "encyclopedia" or "historical dictionaries" as in the following examples: 

holocaust encyclopedias 
Africa history encyclopedias 
Peru historical dictionaries

Finding Biographies

Use the following guide to identify national and international biographical databases and dictionaries:

Biography & Autobiography Research Guide

To find biographical dictionaries in the library catalogue, do a keyword search, as follows:

Enter the 'name of the country' and 'biography' and 'dictionary'

Example: india biography dictionary

To find biographical monographs in the library catalogue, enter the name of the person and the keyword 'biography.' To focus, once you are in the catalogue, choose biography under subjects on the side menu.

Example: louis riel biography

Research Handbooks