BUILDING GALE PRIMARY SOURCES

Go behind the scenes and discover how Gale develops its Gale Primary Sources working with one of its source institution partners The National Archives, UK. This is a fascinating look into how Gale and The National Archives work together to digitise collections and make them accessible to students and researchers across the world.

ARCHIVES UNBOUND

Since its inception in 2009, the Archives Unbound program has published more than 230 titles, scanning microfilm collections from across the globe to support targeted research on specialist topics.

GALE DIGITAL SCHOLAR LAB

By integrating an unmatched depth and breadth of digital primary source matter with the most popular DH tools, Gale Digital Scholar Lab provides a new platform to generate original and innovative research.

GALE HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS

With access to more than 18 million digitized facsimile pages spanning more than 400 years, the archives within Gale Historical Newspapers offer a rich resource for researchers across all subjects.

DOWNLOAD AND EXPLORE GALE ARCHIVES BY SUBJECT

MEDIA HISTORY

Dive into more than 350 years of media history. With Gale’s historical periodicals, you can search and cross-search full text across dozens of archives. Establish counternarratives to illuminate research, spark new findings from rare, never-before-digitised newsprint, and understand the past as it happened.

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Uncover 500 years of political history and witness its impact on society. With new primary source collections in award-winning archives, students and researchers can explore the narratives of marginalised people that share valuable stories and support equity, diversity, and inclusion. Learn how using Gale Primary Sources can reveal new, underrepresented voices in both research and instruction at your library.

COLONIAL STUDIES

Uncover 250 years of colonial history. With the following collections, students and researchers can bear witness to both sides of the colonial relationship: global powers whose main priority was the acquisition of commodities, wealth, and labour; and the local people living under colonial rule. Researchers can use these digitised primary sources to trace the world’s colonial past and its impact on the present day.

AMERICAN AMATEUR NEWSPAPERS
FROM THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

An extensive collection of publications that were created (largely) by young people during the second half of the nineteenth century, with an array of material (including editorials, original short fiction, essays, poetry, and more) that provide a unique and often under-represented voice in research.

AMERICAN FICTION,
1774-1920

Encompassing more than 17,500 works of prose fiction written by Americans from the political beginnings of the United States through World War I, researchers can explore the development of American literature in a changing culture through novels, short stories, romances, fictitious biographies, travel accounts, and sketches.

AMERICAN HISTORICAL PERIODICALS FROM THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

This collection of archives offers one of the most comprehensive libraries of American periodicals available in the world, providing a documentary history of the American people from the Colonial Era through to the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the early twentieth century.

ARCHIVES OF LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN HISTORY

This multidisciplinary resource includes a comprehensive range of content for the region, providing research across the humanities for current issues and events in Latin America and the Caribbean and historical perspectives back to the colonial period.

ARCHIVES OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER

This series provides the largest collection available in support of the study of gender and sexuality, enables scholars to make new connections in LGBTQ history and activism, cultural studies, psychology, health, political science, policy studies, and other related areas of research.

ASSOCIATED PRESS COLLECTIONS ONLINE

For more than 170 years, the Associated Press (AP) has delivered the news when and where it occurs. Together, the AP and Gale, a Cengage company, are making previously unseen news copy and footage available digitally to tell the stories of our past in vivid detail.

BRAZILIAN AND PORTUGUESE HISTORY AND CULTURE

A digitized collection of the Oliveira Lima Library, the personal library of Manoel de Oliveira Lima, which has long been regarded as one of the finest collections of the Luso-Brazilian materilas available to scholars studying the history and culture from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.

BRITISH LIBRARY NEWSPAPERS

Consisting of six parts, this series forms one of the largest collections of regional newspapers from the UK, providing an alternative voice to the major national newspapers. This project has digitised titles from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, providing over 200 years of rare documents.

BRITISH LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS ONLINE

Previously limited to microfilm or to those with access to the source libraries, this two-part series is one of the largest projects of its kind, providing access to the works of more than 1,000 authors that provide insight into the context surrounding centuries of literary achievement.

CHATHAM HOUSE
ONLINE ARCHIVE

This series offers content covering high-level analysis and research on global events and issues from the Royal Institute of International Affairs, including unique access to thousands of hours of audio recordings of Chatham House lectures, and content covering every region of the world.

CHINA AND THE MODERN WORLD

Explore unique, first-hand accounts of the cultural interactions and conflicts that gave rise to modern China through collections sourced from preeminent libraries and archives across the world, supporting research on the various aspects of China during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND POPULAR CULTURE, 1790-1920

This unique international collection helps researchers explore the causes and effects of crime explore the links between fact and fiction through 2.1 million pages of trial transcripts, police and forensic reports, detective novels, newspaper accounts, true crime literature, and related ephemera.

DAILY MAIL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1896-2016*

Part of our growing "middle market" collection of influential national newspapers that reflect twentieth-century popular culture and tastes, this archive gives researchers an alternative to the ‘newspapers of record’ – and includes the rare and difficult to access Daily Mail Atlantic Edition.

DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ONLINE: TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITISH INTELLIGENCE

This new archive brings together files from five UK government departments to provide researchers with access to detailed, previously classified information on the intelligence services of Britain and her Empire throughout the twentieth century.

DECOLONIZATION: POLITICS AND INDEPENDENCE IN FORMER COLONIAL AND COMMONWEALTH TERRITORIES

Crucial to research related to processes and movements of decolonization are the voices of local players who helped forge their country’s new direction. In this collection of first-hand perspectives, researchers can explore decolonization as a historical process in which over 70 countries and territories emerged from colonial or imperial structures into independence.

EARLY ARABIC PRINTED BOOKS FROM THE BRITISH LIBRARY

This series supports comparative approaches to the study of the Middle East and the Muslim world, supporting original research on Islamic religion, history, language, literature, and science – comprised of more than 400 years of books printed in Arabic and translations into European and Asian languages.

THE ECONOMIST HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1843-2020*

The Economist has developed a reputation as the definitive source for leaders, opinion shapers, and decision-makers. This archive supports research in many subject areas beyond economics and policy, and it includes the special surveys and exportable economic indicators post-1983 into spreadsheets.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COLLECTIONS ONLINE

The archives in this series provide the largest and most comprehensive online historical archive of its kind, with fully searchable digitizations of every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom between the years 1701 and 1800.

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

In this series, researchers can explore unique primary sources that trace the evolution of land rights, resource usage, trade rules, and environmental protections that mark the beginning of the modern conservation movement.

FINANCIAL TIMES HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1888-2021*

This archive provides the complete run of the London edition of this internationally respected daily paper, including various supplements. With more full-time foreign correspondents than any other European newspaper, it is recognized as the premier newspaper for the world of business.

ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1842-2003

When it first launched, this innovative publication started a revolution in journalism and news reporting. It provided an unprecedented visual tour of the triumphs, tragedies, daily life, and monumental events of the world and the modern British Empire – and every issue is contained here.

THE INDEPENDENT HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1986-2016

This innovative newspaper known for its alternative views compared to the other major newspapers, providing a different perspective compared to its more political rivals. It has maintained a unique position in British journalism, and this archive includes the full editions and supplements.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF NORTH AMERICA

This archive has been crafted with the expert guidance of an international advisory board to support research into the history of native peoples from the sixteenth century into the twentieth century, through a diverse range of document types ranging from newspapers to census records.

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1887-2013

This archive provides the full run of this daily paper from its launch as the New York Herald up until its rebranding as the New York Times International Edition, covering its evolution from the essential newspaper for the expatriate American to its focused reporting of international news.

LIBERTY MAGAZINE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1924-1950

Liberty published content from some of the most famous artists, authors, celebrities, and political figures of its time, and this archive features the complete run of the magazine, including more than 17,000 stories and articles, revealing the attitudes, lifestyles, and desires of inter-war America.

THE LISTENER HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1929-1991

During the peak of the radio age, the BBC set a global standard in reporting and commentary, and network published transcripts in this weekly magazine. This archive provides rare access to the content of many early broadcasts and offers the BBC's perspective on the twentieth century.

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1982-2011

The digitised editions of this staple Sunday paper provide the researcher with reporting, analysis and commentary on nearly four decades of politics and foreign affairs, popular culture, financial and business news, entertainment and sport and represent a key part of the British media.

THE MAKING OF MODERN LAW

This series features covers the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, covering almost every aspect of American and British law, and significant content covering other world regions. It complements the traditional study of law with books from the most influential legal writers throughout history.

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

This series offers materials covering worldwide issues and the forces that shaped our world today, including trade, exploration and colonization, politics, business and industry, and many more. It includes rare and hard to access materials and 400 years of content from the Goldsmith-Kress collection.

THE MIRROR
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1903-2000

Aimed at a working-class mass-market audience, the Mirror became influential in shifting the course of British newspapers and journalism, starting the dominance of tabloids in the twentieth century—offering researchers a valuable left-wing, populist alternative to the major broadsheets.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VIRTUAL LIBRARY

From its founding in 1888, the National Geographic Society has become synonymous with rethinking the world as we know it. From the iconic National Geographic Magazine to hundreds of books, videos, and images, this series provides over 100 years of content from this world-leading publication.

NINETEENTH CENTURY COLLECTIONS ONLINE

The twelve archives in this series provide one of the most comprehensive resources on the “long nineteenth century”, sourced from the world's preeminent libraries and archives. Many of the documents scanned are rare and in delicate condition, which would be otherwise unavailable to researchers.

NINETEENTH CENTURY UK PERIODICALS

This project was undertaken in response to demand from scholarly communities, and the two resulting archives support researchers in almost every subject area. They contain well known publications alongside obscure documents, covering everything from hobby interests to issues of global importance.

NINETEENTH CENTURY U.S. NEWSPAPERS

This archive provides full-text content and images from numerous newspapers from urban and rural regions throughout the United States, from the political party newspapers at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the daily publications that shaped the nation by the end of the century.

PICTURE POST
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1938-1957

The complete and fully searchable archive of the iconic newspaper which defined photojournalism and published some iconic pictures of the twentieth century, providing a unique visual record of some of the most turbulent years in the twentieth century, all digitized in high resolution and full colour.

POLITICAL EXTREMISM AND RADICALISM

This series provides insight on unorthodox groups and movements from right and left of the political spectrum through rare material, helping researchers explore governmental and societal systems and the environment that created them, their origins, and their adversaries.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Power to the People: Counterculture, Social Movements, and the Alternative Press, Nineteenth to Twenty-first Century showcases a range of ideas, initiatives, and social movements devoted to people-powered politics and organising from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries.

PUBLIC HEALTH ARCHIVES

The first archive in this series, Public Health in Modern America, 1890–1970, examines the history of public health and the policy debates that ensued in the delivery of services at the national, state, and local levels, organized topically within their collections by subject categories.

PUNCH HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1841-1992

This archive includes nearly 7,900 issues from all volumes of Punch, the world's most celebrated magazine of wit and satire. It contains Almanacks and special numbers, and in collaboration with Liverpool John Moore’s University, authorship has been attributed and made searchable using the ledgers.

REFUGEES, RELIEF AND RESETTLEMENT

The first archive in this series covers the global scope of the refugee crisis from 1935 to 1950, these documents chronicle the plight of refugees and displaced persons across Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

RELIGIONS OF AMERICA

Scanned from numerous collections, most notably the American Religions Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara, this archive provides over 660,000 pages of content that follow the development of religions and religious movements born in the U.S. from 1820 to 1990.

SABIN AMERICANA: HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS, 1500–1926

This archive is based on Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, which he produced over the course of nearly 60 years. The series consists of Monographs and Pamphlets to create a varied research resource, providing access to over 65,000 volumes in North, Central, and South America and the West Indies.

SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY BURNEY NEWSPAPERS COLLECTION

A well-known collection at the British Library, the original Burney volumes are in fragile condition and are restricted from reading-room use except as microfilm. This digitization includes more than 1,000 documents, allowing researchers to see the development of the newspaper as we know it today.

SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY NICHOLS NEWSPAPERS COLLECTION

John Nichols was a printer, Master of the Stationers’ Company, biographer, and historian. Made in collaboration with the Bodleian Library, Oxford, this digitized archive contains over 150,000 pages of printed text and contains some of the most influential titles in British publishing history.

SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY: A TRANSNATIONAL ARCHIVE

Covering a wide spectrum of interests related to the history of slavery with sources that are carefully reviewed by a renowned board of scholars, the thematically arranged archives in this series form one of the most ambitious projects on this broad and complex part of world history.

SMITHSONIAN COLLECTIONS ONLINE

In partnership with America's foremost research and cultural institution, we provide a series of multidisciplinary archives that explore some of history’s biggest developments through public and private documents, including flight, industry, trade, and the backfile of Smithsonian Magazine.

SOURCES IN U.S. HISTORY ONLINE

THIS COLLECTION IS NOW INTRODUCTION TO U.S. HISTORY ONLINE, AND HAS MOVED TO ARCHIVES UNBOUND.

STATE PAPERS ONLINE

Explore the full picture of early modern and eighteenth-century Britain and Europe: this major resource overcomes the fragmented experience of much historical research by combining papers with fully-searchable Calendars.

SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL ARCHIVE

The nineteenth-century run of this newspaper remains fairly inaccessible outside of this collection, while in the twentieth-century it built its reputation on providing hard-hitting investigative journalism, specialising in widely researched, long-term news stories by their innovative Insights department.

THE TELEGRAPH HISTORICAL ARCHIVE

Once the world's largest-selling newspaper, this daily newspaper is generally cited by press historians as the start of a new era of journalism. It is one of the few newspapers that notably changed its political leaning, and has contributors including British Prime Ministers and senior politicians.

THE TIMES DIGITAL ARCHIVE, 1785-2019*

This archive provides access to the backfile of one of the world’s longest-running and most respected newspapers, including supplements and its early editions as the Daily Universal Register. A valuable multidisciplinary resource, it is one of the most cited newspapers in modern scholarship.

TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE,
1910-2000*

Offering more than 250,000 pages of pedagogical news, the Times Educational Supplement Historical Archive provides a unique teaching and learning resource for students to explore the world’s oldest continuous educational publication.

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE,
1902-2019*

Offering access to over 120,000 pages of literary criticism, this archive gives access to some of the finest material written about world literature. The anonymous contributors pre-1974 have been attributed and are now searchable, which is not possible using the original documents.

U.S. DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ONLINE

Access previously classified federal records spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with new documents added each year. Sourced from all the presidential libraries and numerous executive agencies, it offers insight into the behind-the-scenes view of the highest level of American policy-making.

WOMEN'S STUDIES ARCHIVE

Covering large parts of the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, this series supports research into the social, political, and professional aspects of women’s lives, and offers insight into the pioneers of women’s history and their achievements, with focus on material created by women.

Five reasons why primary sources should be used for teaching

Written by Seth Cayley, VP of Primary sources for Times Higher Education.

(Free to read if you have or sign up for an account)

The advantages of Gale Primary Sources

RESEARCH TOOLS

We have developed tools to help our users build innovative and original research: find out more about Term Clusters and Term Frequency, and how they can bring new research avenues at all levels.

PLATFORM ENHANCEMENTS

A list of recent and upcoming improvements for the Gale Primary Sources platform, making it easy to stay up to date with new functionality and tools you can use with our archives.

SEARCH OPTIONS

What search options do you have when you use Gale Primary Source archives? Find out the types of searches you can carry out, and find answers to some frequently asked questions.

SEARCH TIPS

There are many techniques for searching Gale Primary Sources archives, so we compiled a list of tips and tricks to make your research process efficient and accurate.

Navigating the Gale Primary Sources platform

Gale Student Ambassador Megan Bowler (University of Liverpool) gives a quick guide to navigating the platform:

Downloadable OCR

Manuscript materials are keyword and full-text searchable thanks to optical character recognition (OCR). Users can gain even more access to their research materials by downloading the OCR in a .txt format.

Digital Humanities Support

At request, Gale will deliver data and metadata associated with Gale Primary Sources collections for use in data mining and textual analysis, supporting the digital humanities as a growing area of scholarly research.

Integrated Workflow Tools

User-generated tags and annotations, Zotero compatability, and user accounts allow researchers to easily collect, cite, and group sources, tags, and annotations.

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DOWNLOAD IT HERE