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History Research Guide

A guide to help you navigate the many history resources in the IU Libraries

About this guide

In a rush? Use the tabs below to quickly access recommended search tools and resources. 

Ready to dive deeper? Our collections are vast, but the tabs on the left can help you identify the search tools and resources that will be relevant for your research.

If you have a question, use the buttons below my picture to get in touch or ask the library.

If you are just starting a research project and need to know some basic information to get started, encyclopedias and historical dictionaries are great tools.

Most databases allow you click a box with a name like "scholarly articles," which does a reasonably good job of limiting your results to high-quality, academic articles.

Although IU has access to newspapers from around the world, most of our large collections of historical newspapers center on the United States. Check out the "Old News" link below for non-American newspapers.

There are countless options for primary sources. In addition to all the physical collections at IU (including the Lilly Library and University Archives), IU has paid for access to hundreds of online databases that include primary sources from all over the world and all periods of human history. Finally, libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions have digitized many of their collections and made them freely available. For most history research, at least through the undergraduate level, you can likely find the sources you need right in Bloomington. Contact me if you have questions or are looking for something specific.

Using Primary Sources for Research:

Directories of Archives/Special Collections:

Digitized Primary Sources: