Databases A-Z

ACLS Humanities E-Book: HEB

A collection of 2,200 books in the Humanities offered by the American Council of Learned Societies.

America: History & Life with Full Text

Descriptions of journal articles covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. More than 1,700 journals. Also includes the full-text of over 200 journals and nearly 100 books.

Annual Register

A year-by-year record of British and world events. Sections available for PDF download.

ArchiveGrid

Access to detailed archival collection descriptions such as documents, personal papers, family histories, and other archival materials held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies, and archives in the United States. Also provides contact information for the institutions where these collections are kept.

ArchSite: archaeological site recording scheme

The national inventory of archaeological sites in New Zealand, covering over 60,000 sites. Contains information relevant to research, site management and protection.

AUSCHRON - A Chronology of Australian Historic & Current Events

List of significant events in Australian history with emphasis on current events. References to source material, including books, journals, newspapers and news reports, are provided for each event.

Australian Historic Records Register: AHRR

A searchable collection of information on the life of Australian since the settlement. The source information include letters, diaries, photographs, financial records, posters, sketches, recipe books, catalogues, minute books, registers and other material held in private hands in Australia.

Bloomsbury Collections Online

Bloomsbury Collections online is a multi-disciplinary collection of e-books.

Please note we are subscribed to the following research topics only: Literary Studies, Film & Media, Classical Studies, Linguistics, History and Education. 

Brill's New Pauly

An encyclopedia of ancient Greek and Roman world that covers all aspects of Greek and Roman world such as social, political, and economic conditions, art, culture, philosophy and more. The first fifteen volumes are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history.  Five volumes of Classical Tradition cover aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship.

British History Online

Contains digital versions of primary and secondary sources for the history of the British Isles from the 11th to the 19th centuries. Includes such diverse sources as 19th century ordnance survey maps, journals of the House of Lords and Commons, histories of the counties of England, letters, diaries and more.

British Humanities Index: BHI

Multidisciplinary collection of newspaper, magazine and academic articles published in the UK and other English speaking countries from 1962 to the present.

British Library: 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers

Searchable full-text of newspapers and news pamphlets mostly published in London during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some papers from provincial England, Ireland, Scotland, Europe, American colonies and India from the same period are included.

British Periodicals

A historical archive of British publications from 1700 to 1930, covering popular, scientific and arts related information. Personal documents, epherema, literature and other material of historical interest.

C19: The Nineteenth Century Index

19th century research, providing integrated access to finding aids for books, periodicals, official publications, newspapers and archives. currently containing over 20 million bibliographic records for a full range of 19th century source material.

Cambridge Histories Online

A collection of over 270 volumes published since 1960 covering over 15 different academic subjects. The volumes are grouped into topics, enabling searching through an array of historical subject areas.

Centre of South Asian Studies: film collection

The database includes 80 hours of film footage, taken between 1911 and 1956. A large range of topics and events in South Asia covered here.

China Academic Journals - Chinese Interface

Collection of journals published in mainland China, on a wide variety of subjects. This is a Chinese language database. Note: click on IP 登录 on the first page that comes up.

China Academic Journals - English Interface

Collection of journals published in mainland China, on a wide variety of subjects. This is a Chinese language database. Note: click on IP Login on the first page that comes up.

China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980

Original source material from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the British Library, including manuscript and print documents, maps and images, journals and official papers, covering China's interaction with the West, from various perspectives.

CHRONICLES: The Australian Chronicles: An Index to Sources of Australian Biography

A resource designed to assist genealogists, historians and researchers to locate biographical information on as wide a range of Australians as possible.

Cold War: Voices of Confrontation and Conciliation

Transcripts of oral recollections of key players in the Cold War (eg. politicians, security chiefs, arms negotiators, nuclear weapons specialists) providing insight into the motivations for conflict and conciliation.

Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities

Ranked information for the published literature from the most significant conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions in the social science fields from 1990 to the present.

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

Over 3,000 biographies of notable New Zealanders. Note that it does not include people who are alive.

Digital National Security Archive

Declassified US Government documents covering world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions. Includes glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs.

Early English Books Online: EEBO

Comprises virtually every work printed in English from 1473 to 1700.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online

A collection of over 180,000 books published in the 18th century, covering a wide range of subject areas including history, literature, religion, art, science, and law.

Eighteenth Century Journals I, II & III

Brings together rare journals printed between 1693 and 1799 illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century, including crime, sport, advertising, theatre, fashion, politics, revolution, agriculture, social issues and society life.

Empire Online

A collection of  over 60,000 images of original manuscripts and printed material arranged into five thematic sections containing essays by leading scholars. The focus of the collection is on history, sociology, English literature and art history.

Encyclopaedia Judaica

Covers all aspects of Jewish life and knowledge, including history, literature, politics, and the Jewish diaspora.

Encyclopaedia of Islam

Covers the whole Islamic world, from religion and history to politics and culture.

English Short Title Catalogue

Abbreviated name catalogue of works published between 1473 and 1800, mainly in Britain and North America, and primarily in English, from the collections of the British Library and other libraries.

European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750

Guide to over 32,000 printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. Covers the history of European exploration. A wide range of subject areas are covered; from portrayals of native American peoples and natural disasters to disease outbreaks and slavery.

Everyday Life and Women in America, c.1800-1920

A searchable collection of rare books, pamphlets, magazines and tracts relating to American home life 1800-1920.

First World War: Personal Experiences

Contains digital images of a wide range of original documents, including diaries, letters, trench journals, scrapbooks, postcards, photographs, posters and cartoons. Also includes secondary resources such as interactive maps, scholarly essays, slideshow gallery, chronology and glossaries.

Gale Primary Sources

Searches across newspapers, manuscripts, monographs, maps, and photographs contained in Gale’s historical archives, including:

17th and 18th Century Burney & Nichols Newspapers Collections
Archives Unbound
The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2014
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003
The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991
The Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 & Legal Treatises, 1800-1926
The Making of the Modern World
The Times Digital & Times Literary Supplement Historical Archives

Global Issues Library

Global Issues Library addresses contemporary issues--human rights violations, border and migration, environmental issues, security issues, revolution and protest--through comparative, historical, and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Historical Abstracts with Full Text

Descriptions of journal articles relating to the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. More than 2,300 journals back to 1955. Also includes the full text of over 330 journals and 119 books.

Historical Statistics of the United States

Quantitative historical information covering such aspects as demographic, work, welfare, economic, governance, and international relations in American history from the earliest times to the present.

History Resource Center: World

A collection of primary sources, images, articles, maps, and reference materials covering events in arts, science, politics, and society from antiquity to the present.

In the first person

A collection of citations to first person narratives including letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories in English from hundreds of published volumes those that are publicly available on the Web and those that are held by repositories and archives around the world.

International Directory of Medievalists

Provides contact details (current as of 2004) for experts in Medieval and related studies such as Judaism, Byzantine Studies and philology.

Keesings World News Archive

Over 95,000 articles with details of political, social and economic events summarised from worldwide news sources.

London Lives 1690 to 1800: Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis

Primary sources about 18th century London, with a particular focus on plebeian Londoners. Includes over 240,000 manuscripts and printed pages from eight London archives and fifteen datasets, giving access to 3.35 million names.

Making of Modern Law: American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990

This important collection of papers spans the majority of the twentieth century, from 1912 to 1990. Law and humanities libraries serving scholars and students in twentieth-century American social history and politics will find this archive of special interest because of its focus on civil rights, civil liberties, race, gender, and issues relating to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Making of the Modern World

This is a searchable collection of books and journals on the literature of economics.  It focuses on economics interpreted in the widest sense, including political science, history, sociology.

Manuscriptorium

Provides access to existing digital historical documents (manuscripts, incunabula, early printed books, maps, charters and so on), otherwise scattered in various digital libraries around the world. Selected content freely available.

March of Time

Cross-searchable collection of newsreels produced by Time Inc between 1935-1967, recording global events and bringing them to big screens around the world and then later, to television

MAS Ultra - School Edition

A collection providing articles, books, pamphlets, newspapers, biographies and book reviews covering general reference and current events aimed primarily at high school students.

Mass Observation Online

A searchable collection of British social history material from the Mass-Observation organization's archives. The source material includes file reports, surveys, diaries and photographs.

Matapihi

Matapihi is a window onto the online collections of a number of New Zealand cultural organisations.

Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online: MEMSO

Books and manuscripts on a variety of historical and political topics, covering the British Isles, Ireland, Spain, Italy, America, the West Indies, and the Middle and Far East.

Medieval Travel Writing

A collection of original manuscripts and supporting materials from libraries around the world for the study of medieval travel writing in the Holy Land, India and China.

MIHILIST

The Australasian Military History source is a searchable index of published material on Australian, New Zealand and Papua-New Guinean military history and related topics.

News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive (feat. Newsweek)

An archival collection comprising the backfiles of 15 major magazines (including the Newsweek archive), spanning areas including current events, international relations, and public policy. These titles offer multiple perspectives on the contemporary contexts of the major events, trends, and interests in these fields throughout the twentieth century. The collection will provide valuable primary source content for researchers in fields ranging from history and political science, through to law and economics.

Nineteenth Century Index: C19

The Nineteenth Century Index is a growing all-inclusive bibliographic spine for 19th-century research. C19 is a one-stop finding tool covering multiple content types, providing records for millions of documents ranging from books and newspapers to government documents and periodicals at the article level.

North China Herald

Published in Shanghai, prime printed source for the history of the foreign presence in China from around 1850 to the 1940s. News reflecting the social, cultural and political life of the foreign settlements, Chinese news, financial news, maps, cartoons, photographs, advertisements.

NRAM - National Register of Archives and Manuscripts

A centralised register for archives held in many New Zealand repositories, for example, letters, diaries, photographs, oral history recordings, wills, birth, death and marriage certificates, immigration records, financial records. It also includes links to many of the individual repositories.

Oxford Bibliographies Online

Authoritative research guides combining books, articles, and recent online sources such as digital archives, datasets, and encyclopedias. VUW currently has access to the British & Irish Literature, Chinese Studies, Classics, Education, Islamic Studies, Linguistics, Management Studies, Political Science and Renaissance & Reformation collections.

Oxford Scholarship Online

An online collection of scholarly books published by Oxford University Press. Oxford Scholarship Online (OSO) covers subjects across the humanities, social sciences, sciences, medicine, and law.

OxResearch

Provides multi-disciplinary articles analyzing economic and political developments worldwide, and evaluates issues within a coherent political, social, and economic framework.

Patrologia Latina

Latin material relevant to the study of the Christian Church, with writings from Church Fathers from Tertullian in 200 AD to the death of Pope Innocent III in 1216.

Patrologiae Graecae

More than 160 volumes of Greek material (with Latin translations) relevant to the study of the history of the Christian Church from its beginnings through the Council of Florence in 1439

Perdita Manuscripts I: Women Writers, 1500-1700

Contains manuscripts written by women in the British Isles, on a wide variety of subjects, and from a wide variety of sources, including diaries, travel writing, advice writing, and poetry

ProQuest Military Collection

Covers topics across all government and military branches, including international relations, political science, criminology, defence, aeronautics and space flight, communications, civil engineering.

ProQuest Research Library

Covers a broad range of topics found in scholarly, reference and popular sources, including arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests.

SAGE Knowledge

Access to selected 80 online encyclopedias (published by Sage) in the humanities, social sciences and business.

Sage Premier Journal Collection (1999-present)

Access to over 400 academic journals (published by Sage) in the social sciences, humanities, business, medicine, engineering, technology and physical and life sciences.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law

This collection brings together a multitude of legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.

Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007

Contains original manuscript and rare printed material on trans-Atlantic slavery and abolition.

SpringerLink

A collection of books, reference works and journals in science and social science research.

State Papers Online: The Government of Britain, 1509-1714

Part I: The Tudors, Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
A collection of English government documents (papers of the Secretaries of State, correspondence, reports, memoranda from civil servants and administrators) revealing information on social, religious and economic affairs, law and order, and foreign policy during this period. Also includes the Calendars which summarise the documents.

Student Resources in Context

Link to information and references on topics such as astronomy, economics, education, literature and art, religion, law, history, psychology, humanities, current events, sociology, political science, communications, the general sciences, and more.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara: the Encyclopedia of New Zealand aims to build a comprehensive guide to New Zealand's peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy, institutions and society. Browse different subject categories or search across the entire resource. Te Reo Māori interface available.

Tiaki

Provides access to descriptions of the unpublished manuscripts and pictures collections of New Zealand and Pacific material in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

Timeframes

Selected New Zealand and Pacific images from the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, the research library within the National Library of New Zealand.

Times Digital Archive 1785-2011

The complete edition of The Times (London) 1785 to 1985 with full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page.

Torrossa

A database of monographs, proceedings, and journals published by Italian academic publishers, on a wide variety of subjects. Most articles are in the Italian language.

U.K. Parliamentary Papers

Collection of documents from the British Parliament including Bills, House Papers, Command Papers, the Debates, House of Common journal and Select Committee Reports.

Previously called House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

United Nations Treaty Collection

Includes: the text and status of multilateral treaties; United Nations Treaty Series 1946 - 2006; League of Nations Treaty Series 1920 -1944; and associated handbooks and indexes.

Victorian Popular Culture - Spiritualism, Sensation, Magic

Resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Please note we only have access to the 'Spiritualism, Sensation, Magic' module.

Virginia Company Archives

Contains primary source material documenting the founding and economic development of Virginia as seen through the papers of the Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624. It also includes the Ferrar papers and prints which provide a source for the state of trade between Britain and America and London's economic history.

Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Periodicals, 1800-1900

Contains citations to articles in newspapers and journals (religious, political, business, professional or scholarly) published in England during this period.

Web of Science - core collection

Contains descriptions of scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. The records contain cited references.

Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900

Articles from Victorian newspapers and magazines, identifies authors of some anonymous articles.

Women in the National Archives

A Finding Aid to Women’s Studies Resources in The National Archives, Kew combined with Original Documents on the Suffrage Question in Britain, the Empire and Colonial Territories.

Women, War and Society 1914 - 1918

Collection of information resources on the transformation of women's horizons, experience and skills during and after World War I.

World History in Context

Provides access to a broad collection of articles from encylopedias, periodical articles, historical maps, atlases, and primary documents. Covers 5,000 years from antiquity to the present.