Historical newpapers and magazines
If you are researching a historical period, event, or person, old newspaper and magazine articles can provide valuable contemporary accounts. The resources below are useful for finding such content.
- Newspapers.com (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
- America's Historical Newspapers-Indiana State Collection and African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
- Chronicling America This online collection from the Library of Congress offers an electronic to articles between 1789 and 1963 in an assortment of newspapers.
- Poole's Index to Periodical Literature by Originally published in 1882 and followed by five supplements, Poole's Index to Periodical Literature is a subject index to articles published in more than 400 American and British periodicals between 1802 and 1907.Call Number: General Collection AI3 .P7 1963Publication Date: 1963
The University Libraries also have back issues of hundreds of newspapers and magazines available on microforms, in some cases dating to the Colonial Period. Microform collections are located on the first floor of Bracken Library.
Back issues of additional magazines (and scholarly journals as well) are available in hardcopy in the Bound Periodicals collection on Bracken's second floor.
Diaries, letters, and other firsthand accounts
Diaries, letters, interviews transcripts, and other kinds personal accounts are sometimes collected and published in book form, and can be found in OneSearch. To find such a collection, start in OneSearch's advanced search page and choose search terms that express your topic, e.g. "American Revolution." In a second text box, type another term, depending on what sort of writing you want to find: "Diaries" for diaries or journals, "correspondence" for letters, "interviews" for interviews, and "narratives" for other kinds of firsthand accounts. Change the drop-down menu next to the second box from "all fields" to "subject terms."
Here is an example:
General instructions for searching for books can be found on this page's "books" page.
Diaries, letters, etc. are often preserved and made accessible at the archives of libraries, universities, museums, and other institutions.
- Finding aids at the University Libraries' Archives and Special CollectionsBall State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections is on Bracken Library's second floor and houses a variety of materials of historical interest. Use their finding aids to determine whether letters, diaries, or personal papers on your topic are available at Ball State.
- ArchiveGridArchiveGrid will help you locate letters, diaries, and personal papers in archival collections outside Ball State, should you wish to travel to use them or inquire about the availability of electronic reproductions.
Historical documents and imprints
The library databases and external websites below provide access to documents and imprints from various periods of American history, ranging from the period of European exploration, to the Colonial period, to the 20th century. Also, documents are sometimes gathered in published in book format, which can be found using the subject term "sources."
- Making of America BooksHosted by the University of Michigan, this site includes the full text of about 10,000 books primarily published in the U.S. during the 19th century.
- American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and SettlementAmerican Journeys provides firsthand accounts of the European exploration of North America, from the arrival of Vikings in the 11th century through the exploration of the continent's interior by the newly-founded United States in the early 19th century.
Digital archives
- National ArchivesA variety of historical documents, government and military records, works of art, and online exhibits are available through the National Archives' website.
- Library of Congress' Digital CollectionsThe Library of Congress' Digital Collections include electronic reproductions of documents, personal papers, photographs, art, sound recordings and more on a broad range historical and cultural topics.
- Ball State University's Digital Media RepositoryThe Digital Media Repository offers online reproductions of documents, photographs, and audiovisual recordings on a number of subjects of local and national historical significance.
- American JourneysAmerican Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later. Read the words of explorers, Indians, missionaries, traders and settlers as they lived through the founding moments of American history. View, search, print, or download more than 150 rare books, original manuscripts, and classic travel narratives from the library and archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- Internet Modern History SourcebookA collection of texts from the Reformation through the 21st century curated by Fordham University. Some texts are hosted by Fordham and some at other sites.
Physical archives
In many cases, materials of historical interest have not been digitized but are accessible in the archives of the institutions that hold them. Though such manuscripts, letters, diaries, books, etc. might be delicate and valuable, archivists nonetheless strive to make them available for research.
- Balls State University Libraries' Archives and Special CollectionsBall State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections is on Bracken Library's second floor and houses a variety of materials of historical interest. Use their finding aids to determine whether letters, diaries, or personal papers on your topic are available at Ball State.
- ArchiveGridArchiveGrid will help you locate letters, diaries, and personal papers in archival collections outside Ball State, should you wish to travel to use them or inquire about the availability of electronic reproductions.
If you wish to use physical materials at an archive, it is often a good idea to contact the staff prior to your visit. This will enable them to remove items from storage for you, and to inform you of any restrictions or conditions on the use of the materials.