LibGuides: History: Periodical Literature

Finding periodical articles: Sofia

To find find periodical articles on your topic, the best place to start is by using Sofia, our online discovery tool

To learn all you need to know about effective use of Sofia, visit our handy "Using Sofia" guide.

Bishop's University Periodicals

Library users have access to a large range of periodical titles through either our PRINT periodical collection or through our online "FULL-TEXT" titles.

Want to find your journal article?

To learn more about the Library’s periodical holdings visit Sofia and do an advanced search for the journal's title (not the article title) using the "Journal source" index. If we have it, the catalogue will either provide you the link to the full text, or tell you the call number and which years we have. Current issues are shelved in the Periodicals Room off the Main Lobby; back issues are bound and shelved on the basement level.

Want your article FULL-TEXT?

To learn if we have access to online "full-text" of a periodical, visit our E-journals search page and type in the journal's title (not the article title). If we have it, you will see the dates that are available, and the link to the appropriate database.

Periodical indexes

Research in periodicals would be an excercise in frustration if you have to go through each volume one by one. Imagine having to leaf through every month of National Geographic in order to see if they have an article on the statues (Moai) of Easter Island. Well, no need to worry, your lives have been made easier thanks in part to the existence of the periodical index -- your best friend in the pursuit of periodical literature. The Bishop's Library subscribes to a wide array of online periodical indexes/databases. All of our periodical indexes can be accessed from our A-Z Databases page.

For research in History and Global studies, the most important ones are:

Academic Search Complete
Full text for more than 5,300 periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals.
Access: On or off campus
JSTOR
The JSTOR archives include scholarship published in over one thousand of the highest-quality academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. JStor Arts & Sciences I through VI, including Business II, Arts & Sciences Complement and Life Sciences (Biological Sciences/Health and General Sciences combined) are included.
Access: On or off campus
Periodicals Archive online
A major online periodical archive, providing access to the backfiles (1802-1995) of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences.
Access: On or off campus
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
This collection contains significant English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the United Kingdom between the years 1701 and 1800, including over 180,000 titles (200,000 volumes) and more than 32 million pages.
Access: on or off campus
Eighteenth Century Journals 1 & 2
Rare printed journals, periodicals and newspapers of the eighteenth century not covered in other sources, all full-text searchable.
Access: On or off campus

Gale Collections:

Academic ONEfile
Academic OneFile offers authoritative and peer-reviewed, full-text, scholarly content across the academic disciplines.
Access: On or off campus
Canadian Periodical Index Quarterly (CPI.Q)
Provides access (some full-text, some indexing only) to a large number of Canadian periodical titles. Access to some Canadian reference materials also. This database replaces and extends the print edition of the Canadian Periodical Index, which is no longer being published.
Access: Library only
Indigenous Peoples of North America
Enabling exploration of the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century, the collection covers the history of American Indian tribes and supporting organizations. Sourced from both American and Canadian institutions, as well as direct-from-source from newspapers from various tribes and Indian-related organizations, the collection also features indigenous-language materials, including dictionaries, bibles, and primers.
Access: On or off campus.
Sabin Americana
Sabin Americana, 1500–1926 offers a perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late fifteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century. Covering more than 400 years and more than 65,000 volumes in North, Central, and South America and the West Indies, this easy-to-use digital collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions, and momentous events of the time through sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature, and more.
Access: On or off campus.

Need help? Email Me! dbromby@ubishops.ca

Daniel Bromby

Subjects: Classical Studies, French, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, History, Italian Studies, Philosophy, Religion, Sports Studies

No Full TEXT? No PRINT? No Problem! Use ILL.

If a journal is not available to you, either full text or in print, you can try and order the article from another library through our interlibrary loan service (ILL). Chances are, someone out there has the journal you're searching for.

How do I make a request? When you are in your results page in Sofia, simply click on the title of the item you want. In the next page, look to the right hand column, under 'access options" and you will see a purple button to click onto make the request. It will wither say "Request/Hold" or "Request via Interlibrary loan". Click on it to enter the ILL request form, very it it is the resource you want and click "request". NOTE: To make a request you must be signed in to your Sofia account. If you have never done this before, watch this short video. .