History
Discover the best information, whether you’re a new History student starting your first assignment, or delving into a research project.
Library essentials
Reading Lists
These are set up by your tutors to guide you to good quality, relevant and useful materials to help you with your studies. They are a great starting point before doing your own research.
Library Search
Did you know? The citation tool in Library Search can help you create references! Learn how to make the most of Library Search through our short, interactive guide: Use Library Search to find academic information for your assessments.
Subject specific resources
Key resources for history students
Databases
Databases are searchable collections of good quality, academic material, particularly journal articles. They can be small subject specific or large collections covering a wide range of subject areas. Most databases provide access to full-text items.
| A collection of more than 60 reference books, covering history across the world. | |
| Features hundreds of magazines and journal on all aspects of art and humanities. | |
| A great place to start a search on most subjects, providing access to both books and journal articles. | |
| The published works of Winston Churchill. These include diaries, accounts of war campaigns and the text of speeches. | |
| Contains a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations found in dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. | |
| Contains thousands of full-text journals, magazines and newspapers to create an interdisciplinary database. | |
| Provides access to millions of quality, peer-reviewed articles covering a wide range of topics in the sciences and humanities. | |
| Gives you access to a broad collection of information covering the life and physical sciences, technology, healthcare, social science, and the arts and humanities. |
Digital Archives
Digital Archives predominantly contain digitised primary sources. These are original documents and objects that give first-hand accounts of a topic or event and are created by people who had a direct connection with the topic or event. These can be government, company or personal papers, newspapers, books or magazines, or films or works of art.
| Access to more than 250 archive collections, providing digital copies of original documents and other materials. | |
| A selection of primary sources designed for teaching and learning about the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans. | |
| Great for anyone undertaking research on 20th century history. It provides materials relating to the two world wars, the Cold War, and topics as diverse as missionaries in Asia and the British Labour Party. | |
| Primary sources relating to all aspects of the Cold War. It provides access to original documents and many other contemporary materials. | |
| A collection of maps, personnel correspondence, and military files relating to the first world war | |
| A broad assortment of both far-right and radical left political groups. It offers a diverse mixture of materials, including periodicals, campaign propaganda, and government records. | |
| Offers a range of primary sources covering the social, political, and cultural shifts during the period of 1950 to 1975. | |
| Provides access to British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, sourced from The National Archives. | |
| A rich source of original material on many aspects of society, culture and politics from the 17th to the 20th Century. | |
| Contains digitised copies of nearly half a million books published from the late 15th century through to the 19th century. |
Video
Videos offer a dynamic way to absorb information. They often present complex ideas in an easily digestible format.
| A substantial collection of videos for a wide range of subject areas including, business, counselling, film, health, history, music, and more. | |
| An archive of over 2.2 million radio and TV programmes that have been broadcast in the UK. You can search for, and watch, anything already in the archive, as well as making use of the TV scheduling service. This allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next seven days. | |
| Provides access to a large, curated catalogue of over 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films from leading producers. |
Newspapers
Newspapers are a valuable source of information. They provide insight into what interests and concerns people both now and in the past.
The Library gives students and researchers access to wide-range of Newspapers.
| Provides access to the full-text of more than 2,300 major world newspapers. | |
| A database of local, regional, UK national and highly prominent international newspapers, with archives back to the 1980s. |
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers more than 9,000 professionally produced online courses covering a wide range of technical, creative and professional skills.
Always use our institutional link to log in – you will need your University email address and password. The first time that you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Discover more in our video: Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Print Books
You can borrow print books from the Library. The location details below are a guide, it is best to search Library Search for exact location of items:
| Classmark | Subject Area |
| 350 | Military science |
| 930 | Military history |
Inclusive Collections
Expand your research with diverse voices and perspectives using our Inclusive Collections initiative. Explore school-based collections to find high-quality, inclusive resources.
Develop your skills
Finding information skills
Developing information skills saves time and gives you stronger sources for your assessments. Finding information covers everything you need to learn how to search for resources effectively.
Further support
The Skills website has eLearning to help you achieve your study goals. We cover:
- academic writing support
- referencing guidance
- help with presentation skills
- using generative AI
- time management and much more
You can also attend our academic skills workshops. Contact the Academic Skills Team to ask a question or request a one-to-one appointment.