News Resources
A very thorough guide to finding news articles, including historical news, in print, in microfilm &/or online.
- News Research: Finding the NewsA chronological overview of the major resources for finding the news, both historical and recent, with advice for the news researcher.
Literary Translations
In addition to book reviews covering specific translations, here are some resources for evaluating translations:
- Dictionary of Literary BiographyProvides access to biographical essays focusing on all genres and time periods of American and British literature and selected other literatures. Essays discuss the lives and careers of authors and summarize critical responses to their work.
Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English by Call Number: Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) PN241 .E56x 2000 v.1-2ISBN: 1884964362Publication Date: 2000-12-01Provides an historical and analytical survey of the theory and practice of literary translations into English from the principal world languages and from the works of major writers. Entries, arranged alphabetically, are of one of three kinds: 1) general and historical surveys of literary translations into English from the major world languages, classical and modern; 2) topics related to the history, theory, and practice of literary translation into English; and 3) major writers and texts: analytical accounts of the treatment in English translation of single translated works, or all the significant translated works, by major world authors.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies by Call Number: Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) P306 .R68x 1998ISBN: 0415093805Publication Date: 1998-01-09
What is Microfilm?
When you can't find published primary sources, you may be able to get ahold of electronic or microfilm copies
Much archival primary source material has been filmed over the years, but using it will take some getting used to. Ask for help with microfilm, microfiche, or microcards at a reference desk!
Using Microfilm
A sense of what it is and how you use it
Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
Housed on the lowest level of Kroch Library, the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections is open for research Monday-Friday and some Saturdays during the semester. Please consult their web site for specific hours. This is Cornell's largest collection of archival and rare book materials. While books are listed in the library catalog, archival collections are described on at the collection (rather than at the item) level. Notable collections are described here. Many of Cornell's 19th-century periodicals must be examined in the rare reading room.
You may also be interested in the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives and its archival collections.
Cornell University Library Map Collection, Level B1 Olin Library
Electronic resources
This is just a sampling of the many, many primary resources available in electronic form.
Try our brand new "primary sources" section of the main library web site.
Gallica: Bibliothèque numérique of the Bibliothèque NationaleThe digital repository for the Bibliothèque Nationale and a great place to look for 19th-century French news periodicals.
Hathi Trust Digital LibraryCall Number: OnlineAs a digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. It 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, and quickly expanded to include additional partners with fast growing treasure of digitized collections.
Internet Archive (archive.org)"The Internet Archive "was founded [in 1996] to build an 'Internet library,' with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format," such as Internet sites and other cultural digital artifacts (i.e. movies, interviews, images, etc.). Using the Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine," users can look at their own Web site and track how it has evolved.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online by Call Number: OnlineNineteenth Century Collections Online provides full-text, searchable content from a broad range of primary sources including a variety of material types: monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more. Selected with guidance of an international team of experts, these primary sources cover a wide range of academic disciplines and areas of study. They include works in Western and non-Western languages, and are sourced from rare collections at libraries and other venerable institutions from around the globe.
- World's fairs and expositions : visions of tomorrowIncludes primary source documents from exhibits between 1840 to 1940. The collection includes photos, newspapers, periodicals, books, general histories, exhibition catalogs, official histories, commemorative accounts, exposition publications, visitors' guides, lectures, technical reports, and promotional publications.
- JSTORJSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business, and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.
American Memory by Provides information on, and access to, the digitized version of the Library of Congress primary-source collections on American history and culture, including photographs, documents, sound recordings, and motion pictures. Broad topics covered include: agriculture, arts and architecture, history, performing arts, social sciences, etc. Particular collections include: African-American perspectives, Alexander Graham Bell papers, Baseball cards, Civil War photographs, Early motion pictures, and Voices from the Dust Bowl.
- American PeriodicalsAmerican Periodicals includes two full text resources: American Periodicals Series Online (APS Online) and American Periodicals from the Center for Research Libraries. Both contain digitized images of American special interest and general magazines, labor and trade publications, scientific and literary journals, and photographic periodicals, as well as other historically significant titles, from the 19th century through the dawn of the 20th century. Because the database contains digitized images of periodical pages, researchers can see all of the original typography, drawings, graphic elements, and article layouts exactly as they were originally published.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersThis database offers full-text and full-image articles for newspapers dating back to the 19th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files. The database is an ongoing project.
- Accessible archivesA site devoted to primary source material in American history. Information archived is from leading historical periodicals and books, and includes eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records. Databases are encyclopedic in scope and allow full Boolean, group, name, string, and truncated searches. Transcribed individual entries are complete with full bibliographic citations and are organized chronologically. Titles will continue to be added covering important topics and time periods for scholars and students of all academic levels.
- Nineteenth Century Masterfile19th century masterfile/Poole's is a reference service for scholars, bibliographers, and students of the Nineteenth Century. It is a scholarly tool for mining the riches of this extraordinary period. A continually expanding resource for the study of Nineteenth-Century cultural and intellectual life. Many citations point to resources available through either Google Books or Hathi Trust.