This post has kindly been written for us by IHR Digital intern Jaipreet Deo.
In an effort to pull in works relevant to my dissertation topic, the Connected Histories site provides an easy to navigate search function which looks through many databases and archives. Helpfully, this is infinitely quicker than searching through each one in turn.
My dissertation is a comparative essay on the treatment of mixed race children in colonial India and Australia, so I typed in ‘half caste mixed race’ into the keywords box. Using the advanced search function, I set the dates from 1700-1900, and the place as ‘Australia India’. However I then realised it was searching for ‘half’, ‘caste’, ‘mixed’, and ‘race’ individually, so I went back and changed the keyword search to the phrases “half caste” “half cast” “half-caste” “mixed race” “mixed-race”, and the place search to ‘Australia OR India’.
Admittedly this is something I had to do by hand as there is no function on the advanced search to input Boolean logic, so specifying things like this may be tricky for people who do not know how to do search in this way. However, there is a video guide to aid smart searching, and nine research guides on the site.
I had a look through these guides, and as they are categorised by subject, looked at the Imperial and Colonial History page. It outlined on which sites I might find relevant papers if I was looking at the governmental aspect of the empire (such as the 46 volume Calendars of State Papers Colonial through British History Online, or the Parliamentary Papers) and what these papers contained. The page also guided me to non-governmental sources, in British Newspapers and Pamphlets, and several collections examining the stories, lives, and communities of immigrants to Britain from the colonies. There were also outlines of how to look into slavery and the slave trade, sources examining the impacts, strengths, and weaknesses of the empire itself, and helpful sections for further reading and related websites.
The results for my search were grouped into the databases they were in, which was helpful as it prevented the whole page becoming bogged down in search results. These databases included British History Online, History of Parliament, British Newspaper Archive, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, and 19th Century British Pamphlets. I went through each at a time, and although the results were numerous they were also relevant, each one explicitly mentioned mixed race peoples in a colonial setting. I found the results very useful. I explored sources on a variety of issues, such as fears of mixed race revolution in Sri Lanka, and the appointment of British-Indian judges. Admittedly, Connected Histories does not search through every historical database available, but resources are frequently added and it is still extremely useful.
Another slight improvement would be to extend the date series. Anyone studying a topic which falls outside of the years 1500-1900 would not find this site as useful as I have. Unfortunately I cannot use it for my module on British popular culture 1945-85, and will have to revert to slightly less effective search methods for sources on this topic.
Minor issues aside, I found this search engine very user friendly. I did not need to, but it was simple to refine the search through filtering by types of source (for example journals, parliamentary papers, or local records). Additionally, being able to specify the place, source type, dates, keywords, and full, given, and surnames is extremely helpful when searching through archives. I was linked to reliable, easy to use sites, so the whole process was quick and simple. Even if I had had no subscription to the service, I could have selected only those results which were free to use. Also, the layout of the search page is easier to use and more fitting for its purpose than most that I’ve seen.
This is an intelligent search engine, engineered for its users, which really pays off when you’re looking for quick and simple results instead of searching through every database you can think of in turn. Instead, this site takes you straight to the relevant sources.
We commence this week with Goals and Means: Anarchism, Syndicalism, and Internationalism in the Origins of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica by Jason Garner. Vlad Solomon and the author debate an engagingly-written account of a neglected yet important topic in the history of the Spanish labour movement (no. 1995, with response here).
Next up is Eighty-Eight Years: The Long Death of Slavery in the United States, 1777-1865 by Patrick Rael. John Craig Hammond and the author discuss a book which goes a long way to reforging the history of slavery (no. 1994, with response here).
Then we turn to Lars Magnusson’s The Political Economy of Mercantilism, and Andrew McDiarmid reviews a book which makes a valiant attempt at clarifying a widely used but problematic term (no. 1993).
Finally we have Death and Survival in Urban Britain: Disease, Pollution and Environment 1800-1950 by Bill Luckin. Jim Clifford tackles this collection from one of the most important urban environmental historians of London (no. 1992).
The IHR Library staff have recently undertaken short research projects utilising the library’s collections to improve our understanding of what it’s like to use the library, as the IHR Library’s Reader and Technical Services Manager, Kate Wilcox, explained in a recent blog post. Consequently, in order to gain an appreciation of the user experience of the library, I have been examining the library’s holdings concerning the history of the British Museum Library.
To begin with, I searched the library’s catalogue for both ‘Libraries’ and for ‘British Museum’ using both the subject heading and keyword search fields. These searches brought up a range of results. As the IHR Library’s collections are arranged mostly geographically, I also consulted the library’s online collection guide for the London collection in order to familiarise myself with the make-up of the collection and relevant classmarks.
The London collection is situated within the Wohl Library on the first floor and is on open shelves. This ensured that I could easily browse the collection, discovering additional relevant materials that had not appeared on initial catalogue searches, and also meant I could consult works as and when required.
Resources
A selection of the relevant works from the library’s London collections include:
I also uncovered relevant materials for my research within other collections and utilised works in a variety of formats. Examples of some relevant resources included:
The IHR Library contained a wealth of fascinating information on the history of the British Museum Library, from it’s conception and first opening for public inspection in January 1759, through to the creation of the British Library in 1973 and it’s enveloping of the Museum’s library departments.
The history of the building is illuminated by Arundell Esdaile. For example, he notes the introduction of electric lighting into the Museum in 1879; ’till then (gas being banned), if a fog were to come on, not only was the Reading Room closed, but the entire staff went rejoicing home. Thereafter a working day meant a day’s work.’ (Esdaile, p 132)
Louis Fagan’s account of the life of Sir Anthony Panizzi, responsible for the building of the Library’s famous round Reading Room, provides insight into the life of key figures in the history of the Institution. However, while documenting Panizzi’s role as Chief Librarian, his account states that ‘the chief officer of the British Museum is styled the Principal Librarian, which is to a certain extent a misnomer, as he has no more to do with the books than with the other portions of the collection; he derives his appointment from the Crown under sign manual, and is entrusted with the care and custody of the Museum, his duty being to see that all the subordinate officers and servants perform their respective duties properly.’ (Fagan, p 107)
P.R. Harris’ work, The Reading Room, features several artworks, photographs and cartoons depicting the Museum’s Reading Room, allowing the reader to observe the immense changes the library underwent. He also attributes great focus upon the staff of the library, beginning with the first ‘Keeper of the Reading Room’, Dr Peter Templeman. This post was created after ‘regulations drafted in 1758 laid down “that a proper officer do constantly attend in the said room, so long as any…person, or persons, shall be there.”‘ Harris remarks that ‘the post proved however to be a dull one since there were so few readers (only five or six each month).’ (Harris, p 4)
Harris also quotes illuminating extracts from Templeman’s diary, including an entry he records for the 30th August 1759: ‘On Wednesday all the company going away a little after one of the clock, the Room being cold and the weather likely to rain, I thought it proper to move off too.’ However, on another occasion Templeman records leaving the reading room to have a walk in the garden, but met one of the Museum’s Trustees who ordered him back to his post ‘with startling energy of voice and manner.’ (Harris, p 4)
In this way, the IHR Library’s resources enabled research into the history of the physical building of the British Museum Library, the collections it held, and the lives of those who worked within it.
Using the Library
I found the library reading rooms overall to be an exceptionally pleasant place to work and conduct research. I chose to work in the Wohl Library on the second floor as I found the natural light in this area appealing. I did experience some minor noise issues that staff are already aware of and are currently trying to address as quickly as possible. Aside from this, I found the space to be conducive to quiet research, with soft seating available close by for intensive reading and the public PC enabling easy access to the library’s online resources directly from the desktop.
In selecting the British Museum Library as my topic for research, I found that most of the materials I consulted on the open access shelves were not in rolling stacks, but instead on open shelves. This was immensely useful for browsing materials and discovering additional resources to consult. Similarly, I deliberately selected a variety of works (including items kept in the onsite store, theses and e-resources) in order to gain an understanding of the different resources that the library holds and any challenges readers may face in accessing them. I therefore filled out request slips for closed access materials and submitted them to library staff in the library office on the first floor before returning to collect the volumes a short while later. I found the process to be relatively straightforward, however further information on ordering materials and collection times from the onsite store can be found on the library’s website. Overall, I found the library a conducive area for research and greatly enjoyed discovering more about the history of the British Museum Library.
Beyond the library’s collections the IHR, Institute of English Studies, and Warburg Institute organise a series of research seminars examining the History of Libraries. The seminars are free and open for anyone to attend, for more information see the History of Libraries Seminar schedule.
“Have you seen the Big Push films?” wrote Roland Mountford to his father in August 1916. Mountford was referring to The Battle of the Somme film. We are not certain that his father did see the film as we don’t have the reply, however it is more than likely that he did it as it’s estimated over 20 million viewed it. Reaction to the film was often divided.
“Crowds of Londoners feels no scruple at feasting their eyes on pictures which present the passion and death of British soldiers in the Battle of the Somme … a “film” of war’s hideous tragedy is welcomed. I beg leave respectfully to enter a protest against an entertainment which wounds the hearts and violates the very sanctities of bereavement.” (The Dean of Durham letter to The Times).
“We went on Wednesday night to a private view of the ‘Somme films’ i.e. the pictures taken during the recent fighting. To say that one enjoyed them would be untrue; but I am glad I went. I am glad I have seen the sort of thing our men have to go through, even to the sortie from the trench, and the falling in the barbed wire. There were pictures too of the battlefield after the fight, & of our gallant men lying all crumpled up & helpless. There were pictures of men mortally wounded being carried out of the communication trenches, with the look of agony on their faces.” (Frances Stevenson – David Lloyd George’s secretary).
Just as historians have debated the strategy and tactics of Haig et al, the representation of the battle and its effects on a nation, so too have they discussed the authenticity of the film. A discussion well covered in the Roger Smither article “A wonderful idea of the fighting” : the question of fakes in The Battle of the Somme. A search on the subject tree BBIH brings up the following references.
To expand the search to Film and all World War I click on the Refine search button…
…and replace “Battles, Somme 1916″ with “Wars, World War I” for an overview of references to the war and film which includes cinema going, propaganda, representation of the war, and moral panics. Alternatively, delete the term “Film” and see the results for “Battles, Somme 1916″.
Film and World War I (Click to enlarge)
Battle of the Somme (Click to enlarge)
I’ll leave the final comments to Lt. Cyril Catford and his letter of 25 September 1916 held by the Durham County Record Office.
Surely truth is stranger than fiction!! Last night I had a most excellent sleep in No Mans Land, during a fairly heavy bombardment such as is practically continuous in this the greatest battle of the War!! … There is very little to say about this big show except the Artillery is awful and the flies are worse, whilst conditions of living are worse still. All the same we are exceptionally cheerful. We bear everything I hope like good soldiers proud to have beaten thoroughly the reputed “Invincible German Army”. The men are absolutely wonderful. My Company are in the best of spirit. I think you might send out 1000 Woodbines [cigarettes] for them.
Lt. Catford was to die 10 days later, he was 26 years old.
We start this week with Manisha Sinha’s The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition. Beverly Tomek and the author discuss a book which will be a valuable go-to reference work for years to come (no. 1991, with response here).
Next, we turn to Nationalism, Myth, and the State in Russia and Serbia: Russian and East European Government Politics and Policy by Veljko Vujačić, which Jasna Dragovic-Soso praises as a book whose arguments are nuanced, compelling and well-supported throughout (no. 1990).
We also have two new podcast reviews. In the first, Jordan Landes talks to Arthur Burns and Paul Readman about their new edited collection, Walking Histories, 1800-1914 (no. 1989).
Then, in the second, we have an interview conducted just after the Brexit vote, with Daniel Snowman talking to Lord Peter Hennessy about (very) contemporary history (no. 1988).
My name is Tundun Folami, and I am the Institute of Historical Research Library’s current graduate trainee.
In an exercise designed to improve understanding of what it’s like to use the collections, each of the IHR library staff have been undertaking different research projects using the library. This exercise was particularly beneficial to me to see how easy it is to access the collections, as I only started at the IHR library a week ago.
Using the library catalogue
I chose espionage during the Cold War as my research topic and as a starting point for my research, I searched the library catalogue using ‘Cold War’ as a keyword.
Searching ‘Cold War’ by keyword brings up 88 results. Some examples included:
The first five results were most relevant to my research; three of which were books available on open access and two were e-books.
I felt narrowing down my search to Cold War espionage didn’t yield enough results, so I scrolled to the bottom of the page and found a link to the IHR library E-Resources page. Here I found a list of links to online resources available onsite. I went through the list and ultimately, the most relevant results were retrieved from JSTOR and Times Digital Archive. These included journal articles, reviews and newspaper articles.
Working in the IHR Library (Wohl Library – Lower Ground)
My topic for this exercise was on Cold War espionage and so I chose to work on the lower ground level of the Wohl Library, as this is where the International Relations collection is held. I sat at the desk closest to the entrance as it had a PC which I could use to browse the library catalogue and it was near to the rolling stacks holding the International Relations collection.
Working in this area was comfortable and quiet, though occasionally the noise from reception on the floor above would disturb the silence. The room housing the International collection was also poorly lit, especially further in towards the window.
Summary
The library has a large amount of material on the general topic of the Cold War, both in the library itself and online as e-books and e-resources. When I narrowed down my research topic to Cold War espionage, the majority of titles found were from a U.S perspective. A smaller number of titles were retrieved for the USSR, France, Germany, Italy and Latin America. I felt it would’ve helped my search if there had been a sub-category in either the Military or International Relations collection guides on the website. There were a few issues regarding noise and lighting were the International Relations collection is held, but overall, working in the IHR library was pleasant and largely problem free, and an ideal place to start research on the topic I’d chosen.
We start this week with Katrina Navickas’s Protest and the Politics of Space and Place, 1789-1848, as Mike Sanders and the author discuss a pioneering response to the ‘spatial turn’ in History (no. 1987, with response here).
We then turn to Damn Yankees: Demonization & Defiance in the Confederate South by George C. Rable. Patrick Doyle enjoys an insightful analysis of the way Southerners reacted and related to the American Civil War (no. 1986).
Next up is Sabyasachi Bhattacharya’s The Defining Moments in Bengal: 1920–1947, and Dharitri Bhattacharjee reviews a comprehensive book on the provincial history of one of colonial India’s most significant regions (no. 1985).
Finally we turn to Religious Refugees in the Early Modern World: An Alternative History of the Reformation by Nicholas Terpstra. Jameson Tucker tackles a thought-provoking introduction to the field, raising new debates about the early modern period and our own (no. 1984).
The IHR History Now & Then Series returns for 2016/17
Wolfson Room I | IHR | Senate House | Malet Street | WC1E 7HU
Discussion: 18:00-19:30 Refreshments: 19:30-20:30
This series of public lectures at the IHR takes off from an extraordinary (and potentially dangerous) paradox. On the one hand, ‘history’ seems to be more popular than ever: in schools and universities, on film, TV and the internet, in sales of historical biographies, visitor numbers to heritage sites, the growth of family history, re-enactment societies and the like.
Yet we also live in an aggressively here-and-now culture in which many people seem to lack any real understanding of how the present is linked to all that has preceded it. Thus, major current issues are frequently discussed with little sense of their longer-term historical roots: migration policy, for example, or continued British membership of the EU or Russian involvement in Ukraine. As Jo Guldi and David Armitage argued in their ‘History Manifesto’(published in 2014), it is vital to understand the past if we are to have any chance of planning sensibly for the future.
Welcome: Professor Lawrence Goldman, Director of the Institute of Historical Research Chair: Daniel Snowman, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research
5 October 2016: Rhodes statue and Beyond
How far can/should history be re-written in accordance with current values? History and the pros and cons of ‘apology’. Are there things about the past that it is not acceptable to mention (or research)? Panel: Martin Daunton, Margot Finn, Jinty Nelson & David Starkey
2 November 2016: History and Change
Is history necessarily the story of ‘change’? Who/what makes things change? The role of ‘Great men/women’ – and other factors? Panel: Margaret MacMillan, Rana Mitter, Andrew Roberts & Gareth Stedman Jones
7 December 2016: The Focus of History
Much history is national history. But should ‘history’ focus on the nation? Or the locality – or maybe the wider world? Or on ‘things’? And should it have a short, precisely defined temporal focus – or a longer durée? Panel: Maxine Berg, Jerry Brotton, Richard Drayton & Chris Wickham
11 January 2017: Lessons from the Past
Does history ‘repeat itself’? What kind of ‘lessons’ can we learn from history? ‘Counterfactual’ history: could the past have been different? Panel: Jeremy Black, Taylor Downing, Ian Mortimer & Lucy Riall
8 February 2017: History and Religion(s)
What role has religion played in the unfolding of history? Has it provided a fundamental motivating force? Or has religion primarily reflected deeper socioeconomic trends and priorities? Panel: Felicity Heal, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Miri Rubin & Brian Young
8 March 2017: The Future of the Past
How will future historians judge today’s historiography? What do we over-emphasise (or under-emphasise)? ‘Big’ History, ‘big’ data: how is ‘history’ changing in the digital age? Panel: Caroline Barron, Anne Curry, Charlotte Roueché & Jane Winters
Advanced registration for this seminar series is required. Tickets are £5 per session or £25 for all 6 sessions. Free for the Friends of the IHR.
Having worked in the IHR library for a while, it can be easy, perhaps, to lose sight of how the library may come across to our readers. In an interesting exercise suggested by our graduate trainee, Siobhan Morris, each member of the library staff played the role of a hypothetical reader for a day to see how easy it is to use the library and find any relevant material for their subject.
For a while I have also been curious to see if the library could meet the needs of someone whose primary research interest is not history. So my imaginary reader is a politics student currently studying an MA very similar to the masters in EU Politics currently being taught at the London School of Economic. Besides looking at the coverage in the IHR’s collections relevant for my imaginary course, I will also attempt to get an understanding of how easy it is to use the space and resources within the library and identify any obstacles that may arise.
General Impressions
For my morning session (1st August) I chose to work in the basement since this is where the International Relations collection is currently housed. Although by no means loud, the noise from the reception above and the lift meant that this spot is not as quiet as one might think. Thankfully connecting to the Wi-Fi with my laptop (using Windows 10) was very easy. The main obstacle I did face, however, was the inadequate lighting in the International Relations room – hopefully this can be rectified soon. During this morning session I also used a variety of e-resources from the library PC also in the basement. I did not have any major problems using resources like J-Stor or the Times Digital Archive and, in this instance, there were no problems printing or photocopying.
For my afternoon session (2nd August) I had intended to use one of the reader spaces in the main reading room on the second floor but all were taken at this point; there were still seats free in the smaller reading rooms on that floor but I went across the landing to the North American room, which was empty at this point. Locating the material I needed in the various European history collections was largely problem free, and it was particularly helpful having so many complementary collections on open access (locating local contemporary political works in the Italian collection, for example, with the catalogue alone would have been quite difficult).
Searching
Using the catalogue on my laptop I initially did a number of keyword searches using terms such as:
“European Union”
“European Economic Community”
“European Community”…etc.
This did result in quite a few hits. Yet this type of search was bringing up a lot of internet resources that were only accessible via MyILibrary, even though I had limited it to an IHR library only facet. The current position of access in the library has been made clear, however on the library page about Electronic resources.
Next I carried out a number of subject searches with the name of a country suffixed with terms such as “politics and government”, “foreign relations”, etc. Therefore the terms I used for France were as follows:
France Politics and Government 1945-
France Politics and Government 1958-
France Politics and Government 1969-
France Politics and Government 1981-
France Foreign Relations 1945
France Foreign Relations Germany 1945-
This might be construed as cheating, slightly, since these terms are Library of Congress Subject Headings and hence something only librarians tend to be familiar with. However it was a useful type of search to employ, giving a useful impression of the strengths within the various collections investigated, and is a strategy I will recommend to new users in the future. Yet no search strategy is perfect, which is why, as mentioned above, my third method for discovering material was just to browse the open shelves.
Collection Coverage
Throughout the course of my searches the bulk of the material I found for the post-1945 period centred, perhaps unsurprisingly, on Britain, with also significant holdings for France (especially post-1945 international relations) and Germany. A smaller number of titles were retrieved for Italy, Spain and Portugal, and very little, if anything, for the Netherlands and Belgium, Ireland, Austria and Scandinavia. Also the material currently in the library tends to concentrate on the c. 1945-c.1970 period with diminishing returns for later periods. This is something both myself and my fellow collection librarian, Mette Lund, are aware of, and as new works are published about the post-1970 or post-1989 period, which fall into the collection remit of the library, we will acquire them.
Although this exercise did flag-up a few issues regarding collection coverage, overall I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of material that could be found in the library for the hypothetical politics student. Coupled with some of the IHR’s other activities, such as its varied seminar programme, this makes it clear that the IHR and its library is not for historians alone.
This post has kindly been written for us by IHR Digital intern Rebecca Gillard.
Since starting my studies as a History BA student I have become increasingly interested in the topic of crime and punishment. The site Connected Histories proved extremely useful due to its fruitful content. Connected Histories is a collection of twenty five digital resources which contain sources dating from 1500 to 1900 on numerous of different topics. The search can be tweaked to suit your needs, specifying whether you’re looking for a particular person or place.
I searched the keywords crime and punishment in order to test out Connected Histories, and see what resources it would bring up. This search brought up over 300,000 matches across twenty two different resources.
The most useful and interesting sources came from The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online, which provides trial proceedings from one of London’s criminal courts during the late seventeenth century, up until the early twentieth century. When searching through numerous of trials you can see how punishments varied and how certain crimes were viewed differently. One interesting case I found was of a fourteen year old boy found guilty of stealing a milk pot and was sentenced to death in 1806. Another case, in 1678, was a man found guilty of manslaughter and whose punishment was a burn on the hand. This punishment seems a lot less severe than death, especially considering that manslaughter is often seen as a much more vicious crime than theft. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online provide an interesting insight into the criminal court and how over time the justice system was ever changing.
Witches in Early Modern England also provided numerous results. This resource contained case studies of individuals being trialled for witchcraft, detailing their crimes, victims and verdicts. This would prove extremely resourceful for someone who was interested in the topic of witchcraft, and would present a great starting point. As well as the short description of the event, it also contains the original text from the trail so you are able to read it in more detail, and get a sense of what type of language they used.
The Museum Image Collection Database and the Database of Mid-Victorian Illustration are two other resources which came up when doing when my search, showing how the sources are not just text documents. These resources show how crime and punishment was represented and viewed from 1500 to 1900. There is a wide variety of images ranging from political satire to pictures on the back of playing cards.
Due to the key words the search also pulled up Queen Victoria’s Journals, something which I did not expect to find. Looking through the diary entries I found it fascinating to read about a monarch’s life from their own perspective. The entries are so detailed and outline Queen Victoria’s feelings and thoughts during her most pivotal and also private moments. Even though I did not intend to find this upon my search it still proved a really interesting resource, despite not being entirely connected to my original topic.
Connected Histories is a valuable and useful tool for searching for a specific topic, area, person, or location. It provides numerous different avenues for you to explore, whether you’re searching for pictures or text documents, and allows you to make your own connections as well as look at ones which are already made. Connected Histories is a great resource to use for anyone wanting a wide variety of sources on an area in British History.
I found the library reading rooms overall to be an exceptionally pleasant place to work and conduct research. I chose to work in the Wohl Library on the second floor as I found the natural light in this area appealing. I did experience some minor noise issues that staff are already aware of and are currently trying to address as quickly as possible. Aside from this, I found the space to be conducive to quiet research, with soft seating available close by for intensive reading and the public PC enabling easy access to the library’s online resources directly from the desktop.
from a U.S perspective. A smaller number of titles were retrieved for the USSR, France, Germany, Italy and Latin America. I felt it would’ve helped my search if there had been a sub-category in either the Military or International Relations collection guides on the website. There were a few issues regarding noise and lighting were the International Relations collection is held, but overall, working in the IHR library was pleasant and largely problem free, and an ideal place to start research on the topic I’d chosen.
