J400: Social Movements in Western Europe
Welcome to the library class page for J400: Social Movements in Western Europe (and beyond) circa 1850-present. This page can serve as a guide to aid you in your research project.If you are interested in social movements involving modern British sexuality (including those related to Victorian prostitution), please visit the library class page for J400: Sexuality and Culture in Modern Britain.
What will you need?
You will need to locate primary and secondary sources for your research project. For information on the difference between the two, please visit the library's Indentifying Primary and Secondary Sources page.
Below are lists of selected materials on this subject matter. To browse additional databases related to the study of history, please visit the Resources by Subject History page.
Catalogs:
IUCAT: A catalog of the IU libraries' holdings. You can find both primary and secondary sources searching IUCAT. Search for books, journals (not articles), and so much more! We have a variety of electronic, print, and microform formats. When you are viewing a record, click on the subject headings to find additional materials on the same topic.
WorldCat: Can't find what you are looking for in IUCAT? WorldCat is the world's catalog. Within records, click "Request ILL" to obtain materials via interlibrary loan.
Primary Sources:
Digital collections
Databases can be tricky to search because they often function differently than regular internet searches. For search techniques, please visit the Basic Database Searching Techniques page. Use more general or more specific language to broaden or narrow your searches.
Some of the databases provide full text access to primary sources, while others index citations. If you find a relevant citation, your title may be available in a different format (print, microform) at one of our libraries.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries
Collection of full text British and Irish women's personal writings spanning over 400 years (1500-1950). Materials can be browsed by years, places, historical events, and personal events. On the search page, "subject headings" include women's rights and sexism. Make sure to limit your results to the years you are investigating.
Defining Gender Online
Searchable full-text of European advice literature (1450-1910) covering household management, education, leisure, shopping, sexuality, consumption and sport. Along with full text primary sources, this database provides contextual essays. Topics (click on "view topics" in the upper-right) include contraception, equality, prejudice, and prostitution.
Economist Historical Archive 1843-2003
The digital version of the weekly magazine, covering international news and events. A leader in global market and geo-political analysis.
LexisNexis Academic
Organized into 5 categories, LexisNexis includes articles from international newspapers, magazines, transcripts, legal research, and medical journals. Coverage varies, but this is most useful for recent topics.
Mass Observation Online
Full text field research into the cultural and social life of Britain from 1937 to 1965.
Times Digital Archive (The Times, London)
The full text of The Times (London) from 1785-1985. Search and limit by date and article type. Use Lexis-Nexis for 1986-today.
Women and Social Movements
This database brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of American women's activism in public life (1600-2000). Click on the "Movements" tab to sort documents by movement. Also see their companion webpage Women and Social Movements Today, which provides links to current social organizations.
Government Information
Government documents are located in the Government Information Microforms and Statistical Services (GIMSS; Wells Library, East Tower, 2nd floor). Please consult with a reference librarian at GIMSS for further assistance with government documents.
Green Box Page
Before the internet, government information was stored at GIMSS in green boxes for each country. This is the virtual version of this resource. Arranged by topic, each profile typically has links to government portals and census information.
Websites
German History in Documents and Images (GDHI) is a collection of translated primary source documents, plus images and maps, published online by the German Historical Institute. (It is still under development, but some sections, such as 1961-1989 have quite a bit of information).
Modern History Source Book: Modern Social Movements
Provides a limited assortment of primary source materials on the topic, including Feminism and lesbian and gay rights.
Using Secondary Sources to Locate Primary Sources
Primary sources can often be found by locating secondary sources on your topic. You can identify articles on your topic to find what types of materials have been previously explored, and then expand and reinterpret from there.
Researching a person?
Biography and Genealogy Master Index or Biography Resource Center or Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Use biographical information to identify a person's writings.
Interested in literature?
MLA International Bibliography
Indexes material in modern languages, literature, linguistics and folklore (1963-present).
Entertainment?
International Index to the Performing Arts
Covers the arts and entertainment industry, including dance, film, television, drama, theatre, stagecraft, musical theatre, broadcast, circus, comedy, storytelling, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, and more (1864-present).
Secondary Sources:
Reference Books
Reference books provide an excellent starting point for researchers. Entries are accompanied by bibliographies, which identify the key resources on that topic.
The Blackwell companion to social movements. Snow, D.A., S.A. Soule, et al. (2004). [e-book, search title in IUCAT]
Encyclopedia of American social movements. Ness, I. (2004). HN57 .E594 2004 [Reference Room]
Power in movement: Social movements and contentious politics. Tarrow, S.G. (1998) HM291 .T353 [Reserves room in Library Basement]
Databases
Databases can be tricky to search because they often function differently than regular internet searches. For search techniques, please visits the Basic Database Searching Techniques page. Use more general or more specific language to broaden or narrow your searches.
Articles are often available in full text if you click on the IUlink icon (look for the red and white icon). You will be able to link to the article in full text. Or, you can click the "request article delivery" link to receive an electronic copy of the article in typically 4-7 days.
After you have found citations, or if you simply want to browse the library's holdings, look up your title in IUCAT. Note that you can only search for journal titles, not article titles. Can't find what you want in IUCAT? By clicking on the Services tab above, check out the different services the library has to get you what you need.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Indexes biographical entries in about 2700 reference books, covering contemporary and historical figures. This is an excellent place to start if you are interested in a particular person. Also see: Biography Resource Center.
British Humanities Index
An abstracting and indexing tool, the BHI includes some 320 UK humanities journals and weekly magazines published in English-speaking countries, as well as UK newspapers (1962 to present). Depending on the age of your topic, this index could double as a way to find primary source materials.
Gender Studies Database
Index with citations to articles, books, conference papers, pamphlets, dissertations and other publications about women and feminism, women's studies and men's studies (1972 to present).
Historical Abstracts
This is the premier world history index of articles, books, book reviews, conferences, etc. Try America: History & Life for the American and Canadian counterpart of this index.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2000. This is another excellent place to start if you are interested in a particular person. References include useful citations to additional primary and/or secondary materials; the link will be in the left sidebar of the entry.
If you crave full text, check out JSTOR and Project Muse. Just keep in mind that your results are limited to the journals in those databases.
Website
1968: Researching the 1960's
The theme of the library for the past year was 1968, and each floor of the library celebrates an aspect of this dynamic year. The companion website provides resource guides for the decade. Although there is an American emphasis, many of the resources address larger global trends. Topics include social movements (counterculture, anti-war, feminism, radical feminism, Civil Rights), student movements, politics, dissent in Europe, and drug culture.
Feel free to contact me, your visiting librarian for history Malia Willey: mewilley@indiana.edu, if you have any questions. I can help you with your individual topic.
This resource guide is indebted to the groovy work of 1968: Researching the 1960's.
