Virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700, with digital facsimile page images.
Early modern women's writings from 1400 to 1850. Includes searchable full-text of books, poetry, and speeches as well as browse by date, author, and title. Produced here at Northeastern.
London Times from 1785 to 1985 not including the Sunday edition. Wide history of 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with applicability in literary, women's, and postcolonial studies. Find reviews of authors' works as published during their lifetime.
Rare documents from libraries and archives around the world, from the late 15th century to the mid-20th, plus thematic essays written by scholars in the field of Empire Studies. Covers literature and culture, women's rights, slavery, bureaucracy, politics postcolonial studies and more.
One of the largest collections of digitized page images from American magazines and journals, covering colonial days to early 20th century. This includes titles like Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure's.
Rich primary source database with over 150,000 pages of diaries and letters from 1,325 women. Keyword-searchable and with some pre-selected sub-collections of primary sources arranged around important historical events. Also includes author biographies an
Find citations to articles in the most popular general-interest periodicals published in 20th century America, particularly book and movie reviews, art reviews, and literary news from 1890 - 1982.
Nearly one million images including art, architecture, photography, and humanities, with tools to save and present images. Has illuminated manuscripts, book illustrations, author photos; find things like Blake's etchings, Plath's photo, Shakespearean theatre sets.
Primary source archival materials like letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries. NU Libraries' subscription includes: Immigration Records from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Papers, Women's Rights Collections with documents from organizations like the Women's Party and League of Women Voters.
Collections include: Immigration Records from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Papers, Women's Rights Collections with documents from organizations like the Women's Party and League of Women Voters. From the ProQuest University Publications of America (UPA) Collection.
Citations to education information, including scholarly articles, professional literature, education dissertations, and books, plus grey literature such as curriculum guides, conference proceedings, government publications, and white papers.
Covers 1966 to the present.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Author Archives on the Web
This is only a selection; locate additional resources by searching for your author's name plus words like archives, letters or digital library.
Rich page scans of Blake's illuminated books, commercial illustrations, drawings, etchings, and manuscripts. Also biography, resources for further research, and electronic edition of his Complete Poetry and Prose. From Lib of Congress and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Extremely rich archive of her publications and letters, including first and critical editions of her work, several academic journals, biography, multimedia, and resources for further study. From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Scholarly critical edition of Emily Dickinson's correspondence, including correspondence of family members, responses to her work by other artists, and additional critical resources, some rare and out-of-print.
From U. of Iowa Libraries, which "possesses the most complete Leigh Hunt collection in the world", a browsable and searchable database of over 1,600 of his letters to other luminaries of the time like Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Thomas Carlyle.
All of Milton's poetry in English, Italian, Latin, and Greek, and selections of his prose; almost all fully annotated, most with introductions. Continuing project with goal of annotated versions of all Milton's work. Supported by Dartmouth College.
Rich digital images of his manuscripts, proofs, original editions, some dating back to 14th century sources of his Italian translations. Also includes substantial editorial commentary and notes.
Digital versions of as much of Whitman's work as possible, including notebooks, manuscript fragments, essays, letters, journalistic articles, and the multiple editions of Leaves of Grass. Supported by University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Finding Archives Elsewhere
Always try a Google search for "author name and archive". However, the bulk of physical, paper archives cannot be found that way. There are several specialized search systems to locate papers across the U.S. and Canada.
WorldCat's freely searchable collection of archival records. Will not get you to the full text, but will instead tell you where a particular author's papers are scattered, or particular manuscripts are held. Uncovers the existence of archives that are hard to find other ways.
A database of archives collections available through the BPL. Will not get you to the full text, but will instead tell you where a particular author's papers are scattered, or particular manuscripts are held. Uncovers the existence of archives that are hard to find other ways.
NUCMC records created since 1986 are in WorldCat, searchable free of charge. Older records are only in the print volumes or the pay database Archive Finder.
30+ million records from over 2,000 cultural institutions in Europe, constantly growing. Paintings, sketchbooks, manuscripts, journals -- almost any type of primary source.
Over 7 million records from 1,200 cultural institutions in the U.S., constantly growing. Paintings, sketchbooks, manuscripts, journals -- almost any type of primary source.
Includes historic U.S. Newspapers, links to international collections, photographs, early sound recordings, manuscripts, and former American Memory collections. Of course, very strong in U.S. history, but also with holdings from various historical eras in other countries.
Make sure to use the yellow log-in button and select Northeastern. Millions of digitized titles from around the world, covering the 15th to 21st centuries. A Google Books for academic libraries, with a good amount of full-text access for public domain items.
Sketches from Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare folios, the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Blake's notebooks, the Ramayana, and more. Also see their Digitised Manuscripts, Online Exhibits, and Highlights Tour.
International in scope, one of the largest directories of which newspapers have been digitized. Some may be paid access only -- if you need a particular title first check here to see if it's been digitized, and then contact the Northeastern library to see if we have access or can locate a local library with access.
A listing of over 35,000 free books on the web, maintained by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Also includes listings of online serials (magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, etc.)
National Digital Libraries
Of China, India, France, Australia... always try a search for the national or regional libraries in your area of focus.
A summary of a research article that appears at the beginning of the document. Reading the abstract may help you decide if you want to read the full article.
A geographic information system (GIS) software developed by Esri. ArcGIS enables you to analyze, visualize, and interpret spatial data for better decision-making.
Written content on a narrow subject and published in a periodical or website. In some contexts, academics may use article as a shortened form of journal article.
A group of libraries in New England that work together to share resources with students, faculty, and staff of member libraries. Northeastern University is a member of this group. Requesting a consortium library card is free to Northeastern students.
A free library available to people who work, live or attend school in Massachusetts. Boston Public Library's collection includes physical and digital access to books, journals, and films.
A label of letters and/or numbers that tell you where the resource can be found in the library. Call numbers are displayed on print books and physical resources and correspond with a topic or subject area.
Catalog
A list of all the items in a library's physical collection. Modern catalogs are searchable databases. Catalogs include information about the item's:
title
creator
publication
subject
availability
location in the library
Also called a catalogue, OPAC. Historically a card catalog.
Software that can help you collect, organize, and cite sources. The library provides training on five specific citation managers: BibTeX, EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, and Zotero. Also called citation management software, citation management tool or reference manager.
Physical materials assigned by an instructor and held at the library. These materials are generally restricted to in-building use for a limited period. At faculty discretion, some materials may be checked out overnight or for a few days.
A searchable collection of similar items. Library databases include resources for research. Examples include: a newspaper database, such as Access World News, or a humanities scholarly journal database, such as JSTOR.
A searchable online storage space for video files, images, and documents. Specialized digital repositories collect materials related to a theme or institution.
Northeastern University Library manages the Digital Repository Service (DRS). The DRS collects digital material related to Northeastern University's history and academic work.
A unique number assigned to some digital content. DOIs do not change even if the online location or ownership of the resource changes.
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD)
A digital version of a thesis or dissertation produced by a master's or Ph.D. student. Most theses and dissertations written by Northeastern University students are ETDs. Interested researchers can find Northeastern ETDs in the Digital Repository Service. Theses and dissertations written before 2007 are only available in print format in the Northeastern University Archives.
A broad category of research in which existing research is reviewed to clarify what is known. Evidence synthesis uses explicit and reproducible methods. Common types of evidence synthesis include systematic reviews, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, and umbrella reviews.
The entirety of an article or book, as opposed to a summary or description. Libraries often provide access to the full text as an attached file or in a web reader.
A computer-based means of storing, analyzing, and displaying geographic data. Researchers use Geographic Information Systems to create maps and charts.
A way of examining and interpreting data about geographic locations, or spatial data. Geospatial analysis examines spatial data to gain insights and identify patterns or trends. Also called geospacial analysis.
A library service that allows you to request resources your library does not have. At Northeastern University, this service is free. Materials are delivered electronically when possible.
A meaningful word or phrase in a source’s database or catalog record. Keywords are often used as search terms to retrieve records that contain the word or phrase.
A search setting that removes search results based on source attributes. Limiters vary by database but often include publication date, material type, and language. Also called: filter or facet.
Marginalia
Notes, comments, annotations, sketches, added to the margins of a text. These can be typed or hand-written. Marginalia can include headers, footnotes, and sidenotes. In some cases, marginalia are written by the author of a text, but is often notes made by a reader.
Metadata
Information associated with a resource, usually organized in a specific way. The word metadata means "data about data".
Metadata varies but often includes title, creator, and format. Descriptive metadata makes it possible to find and identify resources in a collection. When the metadata in a collection is standardized, the predefined structure is called a metadata schema.
Research or data available for free. Open access resources are sometimes labeled with an unlocked padlock symbol. These resources often have permissive licenses that support re-use and sharing.
Words used to connect multiple search terms to bring back targeted results. Operators can be used to reduce or expand the number of search results. Operators include:
Well-regarded review process used by some academic journals. Relevant experts review articles for quality and originality before publication. Articles reviewed using this process are called peer reviewed articles. Less often, these articles are called refereed articles.
A free and open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) application. This tool set enables you to capture, analyze, visualize, and share geographic data. QGIS is a Mac-friendly alternative to ArcGIS.
To transfer information from one format to another. Example: Scanning a paper newspaper to create an online or PDF version. Reformatting includes digitization.
A webpage or pages created by librarians to guide your research in a field or course. Research guides include links to resources, tutorials, and other information.
The removal of a published article from a journal. A journal’s editors or editorial board can decide to retract an article when it has serious errors. Errors that can result in retraction include:
A book or article written by academic researchers and published by an academic press or journal. Scholarly sources contain original research and commentary.
Scholarly articles are published in journals focused on a field of study. also called academic articles.
Scholarly books are in-depth investigations of a topic. They are often written by a single author or group. Alternatively in anthologies, chapters are contributed by different authors.
Common filetype (.shp) for points, lines, or polygons. This filetype is widely used in Geographic Information Systems, specifically ArcGIS. Various free shapefiles are available online.
A library database that searches a broad range of resources. Material in Scholar OneSearch includes:
Scholarly, newspaper and other articles
books & eBooks
streaming music and video
board games
archival material
Scholar OneSearch also includes information about material held at Northeastern’s libraries. Researchers can use ScholarOne Search to organize their research and manage borrowed items. To best serve Northeastern University's widespread community, ScholarOne Search has different views:
The Online / Global network view shows all online material.
The Boston view shows all online material and items held at Snell Library.
The Oakland view shows all online material and items held at the F. W. Olin Library.
Appropriate views for each global campus are included on their Global Campus Portal.
A source focused on sharing news and information of interest to an industry. Trade publications are often published by industry associations. Periodicals related to an industry are called trade journals.
An unrepeated string of numbers and letters used to recognize and differentiate material. Also called an identification number. Examples include American citizen's’ social security numbers or published books' ISBNs. A persistent identifier (PID) is a long-lasting type of unique identifier. Persistent identifiers allow you to locate a resource with a URL. Examples include electronic articles' Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) and digital materials' handles.