Off-Campus Access


Science and Popular Culture in Victorian England

|Background Sources | Secondary Sources: Books | Secondary Sources: Articles | Published Primary Sources | Websites |

Background Sources

Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background information and can be used to identify key people, events and dates which can then be used as search terms for finding additional information. More importantly, because encyclopedias often cover the major issues surrounding the subject, they can help you narrow your research from a broad “who, what, where, when” topic to a “how or why” question.

Most of the books listed here are located in Suzzallo Reference, first floor Suzzallo Library.

  • Companion encyclopedia of the history of medicine
    Suzzallo Reference - WZ 13 C737 1993
  • Oxford Dictionary of national biography [UW only]
    Suzzallo Reference - DA28 .O95 2004
  • Encyclopedia of the Victorian era
    Suzzallo Reference - DA550 .E527 2004
  • Encyclopedia of the Victorian World
    Suzzallo Allen Stacks - DA550 .E53 1996
  • The London encyclopaedia
    Suzzallo Reference - DA677 .L66 1983
  • Oxford Companion to British History [UW only]
    Suzzallo Reference - DA34 .O93 1997
  • Victorian Britain: an encyclopedia
    Suzzallo Reference - DA550 .V53 1988

Secondary Sources - Books

Use the following databases to locate books in the UW Libraries and in other libraries around the region, nation and world. Books unavailable at the UW can be requested through Summit (if available at one of the member libraries) or through Interlibrary Loan.

  • UW Libraries Catalog
    A listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available at the University of Washington Libraries.
  • Summit
    Joint catalog of more than 25 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Books can be requested and shipped to the UW for pick-up.
  • OhioLINK
    Use OhioLink to access chapters of recent books, use the "Words" search option.
  • OCLC WorldCat [UW only]
    Joint catalog of thousands of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad.

Secondary Sources - Articles

Use indexes (databases) to find articles (from scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers and sometimes books, dissertations, government reports, etc.) on a topic. There are indexes covering all sorts of subjects, use those which best fit your research topic. For a complete list of databases see Research Databases on the UW Libraries Homepage.

Once you identify articles you need make sure you have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year), then look in the UW Libraries Catalog for the journal name (do a title search for the journal name to see if the UW subscribes) to see if and where the journal is kept (library location and call number).

Databases marked UW Only require that you use the Off-Campus Access link on the top right-side corner of this page to logon before you use the databases from home. Articles from journals which the UW does not own can be requested via Interlibrary loan.

  • Annual bibliography of British and Irish History
    Major index to books and articles in British and Irish history. includes citations to some primary sources.
  • Expanded Academic Index [UW only]
    Interdisciplinary index to magazine and journal articles in all subjects, includes some full-text. For a similar database also see Research Library [UW only]
  • JSTOR [UW only]
    Searchable collection of back issues of selected journals including the Journal of British Studies and the English Historical Review. For another collection of searchable electronic journals related to history see Project Muse.
  • Historical Abstracts [UW only]
    Major index to articles in world history (excluding US and Canada).
  • History of Science & Technology [UW only]
    Index to journal articles and other materials related to the history of science. Also see PubMed for additional articles on medical history.

Finding Published Primary Sources

Using Secondary Sources to Find Primary Sources

Secondary sources, scholarly journal articles and books, are a great source for identifying potential primary sources. Find a few articles, books or dissertations related to your topic and then mine the footnotes and bibliography. You will have the best luck finding published primary sources such as books, government reports, newspapers and magazines within the UW Libraries. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to determine if we have the primary source.

Finding Primary Sources -- Books

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of books that can be considered primary sources for history. These include books written during the period for your topic (i.e., during the 1890s), books written by participants, published collections of correspondence and other personal writings, memoirs and reprints of collections of primary source material. Use the following tactics to find primary sources in the UW Libraries Catalog:

  • Limit your search by publication date.
  • Search for books written by key participants and organizations.
  • Browse the shelves in the appropriate subject area.
  • Check out the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (originally published 1875-1889) in Suzzallo Reference AE5.E363 1902.
  • Check out the Annual Register for the years you are interested in, Suzzallo D2 .A7.
  • Include special subject terms that designate primary sources in your topic search:
    sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence.
    Example:
    • smallpox and england and sources

Finding Primary Sources -- Articles

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of magazines and journals from the 19th century. Many of them are in print (either in Suzzallo Periodicals or in a storage area), others are on microfilm. There is limited electronic indexing for early 20th century material.

The libraries also has complete runs on microfilm for the Times (Microfilm A506) and Manchester Guardian (Microfilm A597). Selective other 19th century British newspapers are also available such as the Police Gazette (Microfilm A10123) and South Western Star (Mmicrofilm A8146) . Newspapers are housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections (Mcnews) on the ground floor of Suzzallo.


Magazines and Journals
  • 19th Century Masterfile [UW only]
    Electronic version of Poole's Index, indexes articles from 19th century American and British magazines such as the Westminster Review and Quarterly Review.
  • Bibliography of British history, 1789-1851 - [Suzzallo Reference Z2019 .B76]
    Single volume index to articles books dealing with this period of British history. Provides coverage of major primary and secondary works. Included in Annual bibliography of British and Irish History
  • Bibliography of British history, 1851-1914 - [Suzzallo Reference Z2019 .H35]
    Single volume index to articles books dealing with this period of British history. Provides coverage of major primary and secondary works. Included in Annual bibliography of British and Irish History
  • Crime in Victorian Britain: an annotated bibliography - [Suzzallo Reference Z5703.5.G7 P35]
    Listing of more than 1,600 articles in 19th century British magazines dealing with crime.
  • Education and the Times: An index of letters to 1910 - [Suzzallo Reference Z5815 .G5 E38 1994]
    Index to letters dealing with education published in the Times.
  • Health and British magazines in the nineteenth century [Suzzallo Reference Z6673 .P288 1998]
    Listing of more than 2,500 articles in 19th century British magazines related to health issues.
  • Index Medicus - [Health Sciences Library 610.5 A-IN Index medicus]
    Printed index to articles published in medical journals (primarily British and American) from 1879 to 1926.
  • Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900 - [Suzzallo Reference Z2005.H5]
    Listing of table of contents of 43 major Victorian magazines. Works best if you are looking for articles written by a particular author.
  • Times Digital Archive[UW only]
    Fulltext of the Times from 1785 to 1985.
  • Palmer's Index to the Times [UW only]
    Index to the Times from 1790 through 1905.
  • Women in English social history, 1800-1914: a guide to research - [Suzzallo Reference Z7964.G7 K36 1987]
    Three volume index to primary and secondary material dealing with women during the 19th century.

Finding Primary Sources -- Government Reports

The UW Libraries has a good collection of British government documents including parliamentary debates and papers. Some material is printed and some is on microcard. while others are available on microfilm. For more information about locating government documents check with the Government Publications section, ground floor of Suzzallo.

  • Hansard's parliamentary debates
    Debates for Lords and Commons, 1829-1891. [Government Publications J301 .h322]
  • Subject catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary papers 1801-1900 [In library CD-ROM]
    Index to 19th century parliamentary papers. The papers themselves are in microcard format housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections. Index is also available in print. [Government Publications J301 .M52 1988 ]

Selected Websites

Additional websites dealing with British history and the history of science and medicine can be found on History on the Web.

Image: 1802 James Gillray print, "The Cow Pock-or-the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!" Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.

Evaluation Form | History Subject Page | UW Libraries

6 January 2005
mudrock@u.washington.edu