History Research Guide

Login Instructions

To Search the resources and databases linked on this guide, you'll need to enter your CRUZ ID and Gold Password when prompted.

Go to Nomad and install the browser extension. This extension will make getting access to articles seamless.

For more help, visit the Online Access Guide.

Collections and Archives

There are a great many primary source collections the library owns and subscribes to. For a full list of these go to the library's A-Z databases page and use the Database Types dropdown menu to see a smaller set and more focused list of databases.

This includes Primary Sources specific to United States or for other geographic areas use Primary Sources. Historical newspapers are also grouped together as are databases that include Images only. Try it now:

A-Z Databases
Directory of Databases UCSC subscribes to or owns.

Below is a list of popular databases. For more titles use the tool described above:

Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 - 1974 This link opens in a new window
Key events and movements in 1960s America as documented in diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
A resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
This database is made up of small, discrete archival collections. UCSC owns selected titles from the full Archives Unbound Collection. Tutorials on using Archives Unbound are available here.
Associated Press News Room This link opens in a new window
Photographs of the Associated Press Archive. Also includes a small collection of radio broadcast files, text of wire stories, and infographics. Covers: 1844-present.
African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text of African American 19th-century newspapers.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searches across Readex / Newsbank historical newspaper databases. Full text from the following databases is included:
- Early American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1690 - 1900;
- Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876;
- Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.

Digitized Books

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
This is digital preservation repository and access platform. It provides long-term preservation and access services for public domain and in copyright content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house partner institution initiatives, including UCSC.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more, published in the UK during the 18th century plus thousands from elsewhere.

Real Live Archives!

OAC Online Archive of California This link opens in a new window
A resource that provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary source collections (artwork, manuscripts, papers, historic photographs, and so on) maintained by more than 200 libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California — including collections maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.
Calisphere This link opens in a new window
This database includes digital collections from California's libraries, archives, and museums and contains photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, media, and more. All ten University of California campuses, and other libraries, archives, and museums throughout the state, have digitized and contributed collections.

Do you plan to Travel to an Archive?

ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
Includes nearly a million collection descriptions of historical documents, personal papers, and family histories held in archives from thousands of libraries, museums, and archives from around the world
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections This link opens in a new window
The Library of Congress provides a gateway for searching OCLC WorldCat (Manuscript materials) -- nearly 1.5 million catalog records describing archival and manuscript collections and individual manuscripts in public, college and university, and special libraries located throughout North America and around the world. Access to this gateway is made available courtesy of OCLC, Inc. Some content is available online. For information on visiting the Library of Congress go here.
National Archives Catalog This link opens in a new window
For help and information on visiting the National Archives go here.
Center for Research Libraries (CRL) Catalog & Website This link opens in a new window
Scholars and researchers from CRL member institutions have free and unlimited use of the CRL collections through interlibrary loan. For Reference assistance from CRL go here.

British Library Archives and Manuscripts
Archives Portal Europe
access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent.

Government Documents

California, State, and Local Government Resources This link opens in a new window
Links to state agency information, laws and regulations. Includes some information for states other than California.
Federal Government Resources This link opens in a new window
Links for executive branch & federal agency information, Congress, laws and regulations, etc.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports This link opens in a new window
Access to all Daily Reports except Western Europe. Date range: 1941–1996
FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government. Translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world . "The United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence"—Readex

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