LibGuides: Practice of History: Jewish Humor and History: Primary Sources

Finding Primary Sources

The primary sources that will be useful to you depend greatly on the topic you write about. For example, if you are researching a director or actor, you will probably want to watch their movies. If you are researching a comedian, look for their comedy routines.

The places you will go for these sources also differ greatly. For some modern material, YouTube or the internet in general might be the best place to look. Below, I'm going to include a few places you can go within the library and its databases for things you likely can't find through Google.

Library Catalog
Randall Library's online catalog. Search for books, journals, dvds, cds, government documents and many other resources held by Randall Library.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
An archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to the 21st century. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles. Issues have been scanned in high-resolution color, with granular indexing of articles, covers, ads and reviews. Randall Library has access to the following collections: EIMA1: Music, Radio and The Stage; EIMA2: Cinema, Film and Television (Part 1); EIMA3: Cinema, Film and Television (Part 2); EIMA4: Rock, Folk and Hip-hop.
Life Magazine Archive
Presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning from its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Published by Time Inc., the magazine has featured story-telling through documentary photographs and informative captions. Each issue visually and powerfully depicted national and international events and topical stories, providing intimate views of real people and their real life situations.
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Digital archive for the New York Times dating back to 1851. An excellent database for history, including full-text and full-image articles. For most dates, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue--cover to cover--in downloadable PDF files.
US Newsstream
Provides access to recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Includes titles such as Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and co-exclusive access (with Factiva) to The Wall Street Journal. US Newsstream also offers one of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers, and is cross-searchable on the ProQuest platform. Part of ProQuest Central. Find more detailed information.
Women's Magazine Archive
An archival research resource comprising the full backfiles of leading women’s interest consumer magazines. Titles are scanned from cover to cover in high-resolution color and feature detailed article-level indexing. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period. Among the research fields served by this material are gender studies, social history, economics/marketing, media, fashion, politics, and popular culture.