Head Librarian
Searching the Databases
- PowerSearch (Ebsco)
- Why search here? Search almost all of Webb's databases with one search.
- What's included? Academic journals, magazines, newspapers, videos, primary sources
- eBooks - Academic (Ebsco)
- Why search here? Find ebooks to support research projects on lots of different topics.
- What's included? Thousands of academic ebooks from leading publishers and university presses.
- JSTOR
- Why search here? This multi-disciplinary databases provides authoritative secondary sources and includes more past date coverage of academic journals than any of our other databases.
- What's included? Academic journals
- Advanced Placement Source (Ebsco)
- Why search here? This is a great multi-disciplinary database for finding both popular and academic secondary sources on lots of different subjects.
- What's included? Academic journals and magazines
Searching the Web
- WorldCatA universal catalog for college and research libraries. Search your topic here to see what other libraries have and what you might want to request through interlibrary loan.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
Primary Sources
Tips for Finding Primary Sources
- Find a sourcebook of primary sources in the library's reference section - use {sources} or {primary sources} as a keyword
- Search key people as authors
- Combine your keywords with types of primary sources, such as letters, speeches, diaries, papers (ex: "World War II" AND diaries)
- Scan the bibliographies of secondary sources for primary sources
- Use the date filter to select the time period you are studying
Newspapers
- Access World News (Newsbank)
- Why search here? Look here for newspaper articles from around the world.
- What's included? Newspapers from over 200 countries spanning from 1980-today. Some foreign language newspapers.
- Chronicling America
- Why search here? This is the digital newspaper archive of the Library of Congress
- What's included? American newspapers from 1836-1922
- Historical Newspapers (NewsBank)
- Why search here? Find newspaper articles from hundreds of US newspapers in all 50 states.
- What's included? Primary source newspapers from 1690 - 1980
- Black Life in America (NewsBank)
- Why search here? Learn about Black life in America and Black history, both past and present, through primary source newspapers
- What's included? Newspapers, including over 400 African American publications, from 1704 to the present
- Hispanic Life in America (NewsBank)
- Why search here? Learn about Hispanic life in America and Hispanic history, both past and present, through primary source newspapers
- What's included? Newspapers, including 700 Spanish language publications, from 1704 to the present
- Newspapers.com
- Why search here? This is Ancenstry's historical newspaper database focusing on mainly the US and some Canadian papers.
- What's included? Primary sources newspapers, 1700 - 2000
- *This database can only be accessed while on campus*
Magazines
- Time Magazine Archive (Ebsco)
- Why search here? Find articles from Time magazine, a famous news magazine, from 1923-2000.
- What's included? Magazine articles, primary sources
- Life Magazine Archive (Ebsco)
- Why search here? Find articles from the famous photojournalism magazine, Life.
- What's included?Primary source magazine articles from 1926 - 2000
- Atlantic Magazine Archive (Ebsco)
- Why search here? This magazine archive covers important events and political and cultural issues in American history.
- What's included? Primary source magazine articles from 1857-2014
Other Primary Sources
- Digital Public Library of America
- Why search here? This website brings together the digitized archives of hundreds of libraries and museums. They also have pre-made source sets to help you find primary sources about a specific topic.
- What's included? Primary sources
- Civil War Primary Source Documents (Ebsco)
- Why search here? This database covers all aspects of the American Civil War, both northern and southern perspectives.
- What's included? Primary sources, manuscripts
- Gateway to North America: People, Places, and Organizations of 19th-Century New York (Ebsco)
- Why search here? Find primary sources about New York City in the 19th century, all digitized from the New York Historical Society
- What's included? Primary sources like directories, advertisements, maps, and travel guides
- AncestryClassroom
- Why search here? This is the world's largest geneaology and family history resource.
- What's included? Primary source historical records like census, birth, marriage, and death records, as well as family trees
- *This database can only be accessed while on campus*