Library Research Guides: HON H251 London and the Rise of the Western City: Start Here

About this guide

Use the tabs on the left to explore and learn more about a wide variety of search tools to locate primary and secondary sources. Remember that this is a curated list of available resources, so don't hesitate to reach out if you aren't finding what you expect or need.

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

Quick start resources

IUCAT
IUCAT, the online catalog for all titles available through IU Libraries, is often the best place to start a search for books and ebooks, and also includes government documents, videos, and sound recordings.
- Use broad search terms to give IUCAT the best chance of finding relevant titles.
- Use the red Request This button to have print materials delivered to the most convenient library for pick-up.
- Materials held at the ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility) or other IU campuses can only be accessed via the Request This button.
- Use the filters like Subject and Publication Year on the left side of the page to narrow your search results.
- When you find one title that looks promising, use the hyperlinked Subject headings to locate additional titles.
- Watch this brief video tutorial on searching and accessing books and ebooks in IUCAT.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.

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

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
This database indexes journal articles on architecture and design, covering subjects such as the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design.

Coverage includes international scholarly and popular literature as well as publications of professional associations, state and regional periodicals, and major serial publications on architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia.
Historical Abstracts
Limited to publications focused on history, Historical Abstracts contains and links out to full-text articles on a broad range of historical topics.

Covers modern world history (excluding the United States and Canada which are covered in the database America: History and Life) from 1450 to the present. It currently indexes about 2,300 journals in 40 languages, with indexing also for some books and dissertations. Most of the article citations include abstracts of 75-100 words.
JSTOR
One of the most prominent databases for research in the humanities, JSTOR provides access to a wide range of journals, book chapters, and more.
JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization established with the assistance of The Mellon Foundation, provides complete runs of hundreds of important journal titles in more than 30 arts, humanities, and social science disciplines. These scholarly journals can be browsed online and searched, and the page images can be printed for those available in full-text. The IUB Libraries subscribe to current content for only some titles available through JSTOR. Includes access to the following collections: Arts & Sciences, Business, Hebrew Journals, Ireland Collection, Lives of Literature, Public Health Collection, Security Studies Collection, Sustainability Collection.

All journals in JSTOR start with the first volume. Many include content up to a "moving wall" of 3-5 years ago, although some journals have a fixed ending date for their content in JSTOR. Please check individual journals for exact dates of coverage.

For information about access to this resource for IU alumni, contact the Indiana University Alumni Association.
One Mail instructions:
If you setup a JSTOR account using your indiana.edu, you will need to update the address to your iu.edu before December 31, 2025. Please use the following instructions to update your account:
1. Log in to your JSTOR account
2. Click on your name in the top-right corner
3. Select “My Account” from the drop-down menu
4. From the Account page select “Profile”
5. Click the Edit button to the right of the personal information header
6. Update your contact email to use iu.edu & click the Save button
Note: While this updates the email address associated with your account, your username will not change. If you used your indiana.edu email address as your username, you may optionally contact JSTOR support at support@jstor.org to request that they update your username to match your iu.edu. This step is not required.
AI Research Tool
The Libraries' subscription includes optional access to JSTOR's interactive research tool. You must be logged in with a free JSTOR account to see and use the tool.
Project Muse
This database provides full-text access to both scholarly journals and ebooks. Use the robust set of filters on the left to narrow your search results.

One Mail information:
On September 16, 2025 all optional MyMuse accounts with @indiana.edu email address were updated to @iu.edu email addresses. Please note that this change refers to the email address associated with your account. If your username was your @indiana.edu email address, the username has not changed. It is not possible to change MyMuse usernames. No further action is required.

AM Search
Locate images, maps, historical documents, and more by searching across all of our AM collections, notably including Early Modern England, London Low Life, Victorian Popular Culture, and Mass Observation Online.

One Mail information:
If you created a “My Archive” or “My Account” using your indiana.edu email address, you must create a new account with your iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. All accounts with indiana.edu email addresses will be deleted in January 2026.

British Library Images Online
Search for images in this vast digital collection from the British Library.

Gale Primary Sources
Search across a wide variety of digital collections from Gale, including the archives of significant British publications like Daily Mail, The Illustrated London News, and The Times.
HathiTrust Digital Library
This shared digital library provides access to millions of older books, pamphlets, and documents.

HathiTrust makes the digitized collections of some of the nation’s great research libraries available for all. HathiTrust was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections. HathiTrust will quickly expand to include additional partners and to provide those partners with an easy means to archive their digital content.
ProQuest History Vault
Archival collections documenting topics in eighteenth- through twentieth-century American history. Provides access to digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and many more primary source materials taken from the University Publications of America (UPA) Collections.

IU Libraries: Start Your Search
When you want to locate a source that you find in a citation or mentioned in another source, use the Start Your Search box on the IU Libraries website to get started. This tool will search IUCAT, OneSearch, and more to try to locate the title. If it can't find the citation, it will provide options to search for the source in WorldCat and Google Scholar. If you still can't find access to what you need, send me an email with the citation information.

Request Article or Chapter Delivery
Request PDFs of individual book chapters or articles owned by IUB Libraries
Request through Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
If you can't access the book or article that you need through IU, fill out this form to submit an ILL request to receive a digital or print copy from another institution. First-time users will need to register their account using the 14-digit code displayed on their CrimsonCard in the IU Mobile app.
Request Material Purchase
Submit this form to request a purchase of an individual title that we do not own in Bloomington (or you can just send me an email)