Library guides: Primary sources for humanities: International Studies

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Suggested starting point

International Studies at Monash is very broad ranging across political entities and time periods. Begin with searching the ProQuest historical newspaper databases for commentaries on events, countries, groups or individuals.

Another good starting point for International studies is the United Nations official documents (ODS) database containing parliamentary documents and official records of the United Nations and includes General Assembly, Security Council, and other Council resolutions from 1946, all UN parliamentary documents from 1992 and various UN daily journals and lists of documents.

Microform

Microform is an older technology which still provides us with a wealth of hidden information. This list is a tiny example of what is available on microfilm and microfiche. Jenny Casey at the Matheson Library is happy to assist you to uncover the microform collection.

Microform collections A-Z
Alphabetical list of microform collections held at Monash library.
Anti-semitism and nationalism at the end of the Soviet era
A revival of anti-Semitism and national hatred accompanied the disintegration of the Soviet Union from the end of the 1980s. This publication is a collection of documents, part of which is shown at the documentary exhibition on microfiche 'Beyond the Friendship of Peoples: antisemitism and nationalism at the end of the Soviet Era'.
Chicago foreign language press survey, 1861-1938
The Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey was published in 1942 by the Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project of the Work Projects Administration of Illinois. Its purpose was to translate and classify selected news articles appearing in the foreign language press from 1861 to 1938. The project consists of a file of 120,000 typewritten pages translated from newspapers of 22 different foreign language communities in Chicago.
China and the United States, from hostility to engagement, 1960-1998
Reproduces 2,052 government documents totalling over 15,000 pages of documentation identified, obtained, assembled, and indexed by the National Security Archive, concerning relations between the United States and China, with an emphasis on the years from 1969 to 1998.
CIA research reports--Japan, Korea and the security of Asia, 1946-1976
Through the research reports contained in this collection, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency examines major developments in domestic politics, foreign relations and economic matters in the Asia, with special reference to Japan and Korea between 1946-1976. The reports in this collection were prepared for the use of the Presidents of the United States and their advisers.
Cornell University collection, women's rights pamphlets, 1814-1912
The collection consists of 117 pamphlets published between 1814 and 1912. Women's education, wages for women, militant methods and the causes of revolt by women in England are among the many topics.
Despatches from United States ministers to Korea, 1883-1905
The collection includes despatches addressed to the Department of State by United States diplomatic representatives to Korea between March 13, 1883, and December 6, 1905.
History of the Vietnam War Indochina Archives
"... this collection is exceptionally strong on materials that are difficult to obtain, those of the "other side" in the Vietnam War ... A microfiche collection from the Indochina Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.

Current and historical newspapers

African newspapers : from the World newspaper archive in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries.
Individual titles by country and state.
America's historical newspapers. Development of colonial societies (1730 to 1753)
Provides access to cover-to-cover reproductions of hundreds of historic newspapers from the North American Colonial period, 1730 - 1753.
Gale NewsVault
Gale NewsVault delivers the definitive cross-searching experience for exploring Gale's range of historical newspaper and collections. Users can simultaneously search or browse across multiple products owned by their institution, including: 17th-18th century Burney Collection newspapers, and the historial archives of the Daily Mail [1896-2004], Economist [1843-2013], Listener [1929-1991] , Illustrated London News [1842-2003], Sunday Times [1822-2006], the Times [1785-2011], and the Times Literary Supplement [1902-2012].
Illustrated London news historical archive, 1842-2003
The Illustrated London News Historical Archive gives students and researchers unprecedented online access to the entire run of the ILN from its first publication on 14 May 1842 to its last in 2003. Each page has been digitally reproduced in full colour and every article and caption is full-text searchable with hit-term highlighting and links to corresponding illustrations.

Newspapers library guide
A comprehensive guide to the newspapers held by Monash University Library.

Pravda digital archive : 1912 - 2009
Pravda ("Truth") was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991. Founded in 1912 in St. Petersburg, Pravda originated as an underground daily workers newspaper, and it soon became the main newspaper of the revolutionary wing of the Russian socialist movement. Throughout the Soviet era, party members were obligated to read Pravda. Today, Pravda still remains the official organ of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, an important political faction in contemporary Russian politics.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Complete set of 10 archives.

ProQuest historical newspapers. New York Times (1851-2014)
The New York Daily Times (1851 to 1857) and the New York Times from its first issue in 1857 to 2008.
ProQuest historical newspapers. The Guardian and The Observer (1791-2003)
The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003) offers full page and article images.
ProQuest historical newspapers. The Washington Post (1877-2002)
The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
ProQuest historical newspapers. Times of India (1838-2010)
The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
South Asian newspapers
"South Asian Newspapers features titles published in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Languages include English, Bengali, Gujarati, and others. Titles include such key publications as: Amrita Bazar Patrika (Calcutta), Bankura Darpana (Bankura, India), Madras Mail (Madras), Tribune (Lahore, Pakistan) and the Ceylon Observer (Sri Lanka) .. The collection will provide more than 400,000 fully searchable pages of newspapers published in South Asia between 1864 and 1922."--Center for Research Libraries.
Times digital archive, 1785-2012
Includes The Times (London, England) and its predecessor, the Daily Universal Register, from its first issue in 1785 to the end of December 1985.

Selected websites

Cold War international history project
Includes scans and translations of Cold War documents.From the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Constitution finder
A database that offers constitutions, charters, amendments, and other related documents. Nations of the world are linked to their constitutional text posted somewhere on the Internet.
EuroDocs
European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated and which focus on key historical happenings within the respective countries and within the broadest sense of political, economic, social and cultural history.
Smithsonian Libraries - Library and archival exhibitions on the web
Online exhibitions that have been created by libraries, archives, and historical societies, as well as to museum online exhibitions with a significant focus on library and archival materials. The scope is international and multi-lingual.
The Vietnam Centre and Archive
Site dedicated to support and encourage research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam experience; promoting a greater understanding of this experience and the peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia. Posts millions of documents, images and other materials such as results of the Oral History Project.
Wikileaks
Clearinghouse of classified diplomatic cables and other secret documents obtained by the organization and posted on the web. There is no search engine that allows full-text searching of the documents, but materials can be searched by date, country, or originating embassy or government entity. Useful for more recent information.

Online sources

Access to archival databases (AAD)
Access to records in a small selection of historic databases preserved permanently in NARA, which identify specific persons, geographic areas, organizations, and dates. The records cover a wide variety of civilian and military functions and have many genealogical, social, political, and economic research uses. Includes access to over 85 million historic electronic records created by more than 30 agencies of the U.S. federal government and from collections of donated historical materials.

Confidential print. Africa, 1834-1966
Issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices since around 1820, Confidential Print: Africa is a fundamental resource for academics, students and researchers studying modern Africa and its recent history

Digital National Security Archive : the documents that made U.S. policy.
A comprehensive set of declassified government documents, the Digital National Security Archive now includes 31 collections consisting of over 80,000 indexed documents, which covers the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century. Glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs are included.

Documents online [WTO]
Provides access to the official documentation of the World Trade Organisation.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports. Asia & Pacific, East Asia
Created by the U.S. intelligence community to benefit policy makers and analysts, FBIS Daily Reports offer foreign views and perspectives on historical events from thousands of monitored broadcasts and publications. Translated into English from more than 50 languages, these comprehensive media reports from around the globe include news, interviews, speeches and editorial commentary. Topics range from political, military and social issues, to economics, science and technology. This database covers: Asia and the Pacific, and East Asia, 1974-1996.

Foreign Office files for China, 1949-1980
Sources from the National Archives UK. Monash has access to: 1949-1956: The Communist revolution; 1957-1966: The Great Leap Forward; 1967-1980: The Cultural Revolution. Material includes British diplomatic dispatches, originating in both London and China, correspondence, both government and private, newspaper cuttings/transcriptions and translations of press reports, minutes of meetings, political, economic and military analyses, statistical tables, biographies of prominent figures, reports of visits, investigations, published booklets and leaflets, posters, propaganda and annual reports, detailing events in a territory.

Gale Artemis Primary Sources
Provides an interactive research environment that allows researchers to cross-search databases to which the institution subscribes. These databases include: Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO), The Making of the Modern World : the Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature, The Making of Modern Law : Legal Treatises, 1800-1926, and The Making of Modern Law : Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926.
Historic government publications from World War II : a digital library.
Provides researchers with access to a large collection of digitised World War II publications, or historic documents, published by the United States government in support of the war effort, held by the Central University Libraries, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
House of Commons parliamentary papers
HCPP online is a major source for information on 19th and 20th-century Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. Includes all sessional papers issued by the House of Commons between 1801-2003/04, including Bills, Reports of Royal Commissions, Reports of Select Committees, Accounts and Papers, and Command Papers.
International historical statistics
International Historical Statistics is a ... collection of statistical data from around the world, covering a wide range of socio-economic topics. The collection includes data on the Americas and Europe, but also hard-to-find data on Africa, Asia and Oceania ... This new release updates the last print edition of International Historical Statistics, which was published in 2007 in 3 volumes. It now includes 260 years of rich data, collected between 1750-2010 and available online for the first time. Users will find the ability to conduct statistical analysis across both time and geopolitical boundaries particularly valuable. Data tables can be downloaded as ePDFs and/or Excel files.
Internet archive
"The Internet Archive is a ... non-profit that was founded 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. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections.

Monash University Library image databases
Monash University Library subscribes to ARTstor which contains more than 1,000,000 digital images covering many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts. The Library also subscribes to Bridgeman Education, Oxford Art Online as well as numerous others. This resource is very useful for locating images from particular collections and time periods.

Confidential print, Middle East, 1839-1969
Covers Richard Nixon's entire presidential term, including numerous Cold War crises, his administration's achievements, Watergate and his resignation, Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers, foreign policy issues ranging from the Vietnam War and Paris Peace talks, to Nixon's China visit in 1972 and US relations with the Middle East. There is also a wealth of material on social conditions, domestic reforms, trade, culture and the environment.
Sixties : primary documents and personal narratives 1960-1974.
Diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary from 1960 to 1974. Organised around key themes that provide insight into the issues that shaped America and that still resonate in today's debates: Arts, Music, and Leisure; Civil Rights; Counter-Culture; Environmental Movement; Gay and Lesbian Rights; Law and Government; Mass Media; New Left and Emerging Neo-Conservative Movement; Science and Technology; Student Activism; Vietnam War; and Women's Movement
Testaments to the Holocaust
This digital resource offers the unique resources of the World's oldest Holocaust museum, including documents and rare printed materials from the Wiener Library, London. Alfred Wiener fled Germany in 1933 and established his collection in London. The collection offers fully searchable personal accounts of life in Nazi Germany, along with photographs, propaganda materials such as school text books, limited circulation publications and rare serials in a uniquely flexible format, enabling detailed research into the domestic policies of Nazi Germany, Jewish life in Germany from 1933 to after the war, propaganda, life in the concentration camps, in hiding, emigration and refugee life.
United Nations official documents : ODS.
A full-text database of parliamentary documents and official records of the United Nations available in the official languages of the UN (English, Spanish and French). Includes General Assembly, Security Council, and other Council resolutions from 1946, all UN parliamentary documents from 1992 and various UN daily journals and lists of documents.

United Nations treaty collection
Includes all multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and, those formerly deposited with the League of Nations, their latest status and a link to the full texts. Also includes bilateral and multilateral treaties registered with and published by the United Nations Secretariat, detailed treaty references and full texts in all authentic language(s); and recently deposited multilateral treaties that have been deposited but not yet published.

Visual history archive
The USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Visual History Archive provides access to over 50,600 video interviews conducted with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust. These testimonies were collected in 56 countries and in 32 languages.

World Bank publications and documents
Provides access to the World Bank's formal publications. Holds over 15,000 free, downloadable documents, including Operational documents (project documents, analytical and advisory work, and evaluations), formal and informal research papers, and most Bank publications. Also provides archival access to official records of the Bank's work from 1946 to the present, including country files, project files, correspondence, film, videos and photos. This site includes a link to the portal "Open Knowledge Repository".

World constitutions illustrated : contemporary & historical documents & resources
Contains the current constitution for every country, constitutional histories, texts on constitutional law, links to scholarly articles about constitutional development, and a bibliography of selected constitutional books. Browsable by country or resource.