Category Archives: Acquisitions

Reader’s Guide Retrospective is a new resource at WKU Libraries that allows patrons to search almost a hundred years worth of Readers’ Guide issues, 1890-1982. This includes:

• All the information from 44 Readers’ Guide annuals in a single database that your patrons can search easily and precisely; save on valuable shelf space, and no need to replace damaged or worn-out books.

• Access to over 3 million articles from approximately 375 leading magazines; many of the articles are peer reviewed.

• Coverage from a wide range of journals.

• The complete text of Wilson Library Bulletin from 1914 on, including PDF page images.

WKU students, faculty, and staff can access Readers’ Guide Retrospective from our Database page. If off campus, make sure you log into our Proxy Server first.

WKU Libraries is happy to announce the acquisition of a new online database: The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries. This resource contains material from over two thousand authors with 100,000 pages of letters, memoirs, and diaries. Many of the sources have not been published anywhere else.

The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries knits together more than 1,000 sources of diaries, letters, and memoirs to provide fast access to thousands of views on almost every aspect of the war, including what was happening at home. The writings of politicians, generals, slaves, landowners, farmers, seaman, wives, and even spies are included. The letters and diaries are by the famous and the unknown, giving not only both the Northern and Southern perspectives, but those of foreign observers also. The materials originate from all regions of the country and are from people who played a variety of roles.

Using a thesaurus of Civil War terms we’ve built specifically for the task, researchers can quickly find references to individuals, battles, theaters of war, and activities. A chronology of key events allows the user to see multiple perspectives surrounding a particular event. This level of indexing is unprecedented. Questions such as “Give me all accounts of letters written about hospital conditions by Union soldiers in the Western Theater” can be answered in seconds.

The collection includes approximately 100,000 pages of published memoirs, letters and diaries from individuals plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials. Drawn from more than 1,000 sources, the collection provides in-depth coverage of all aspects of the war. More than 1,000 biographies will enhance the use of the database.

The collection includes one of the most comprehensive bibliographies of Civil War letters and diaries yet published. It lists over 1,000 published and unpublished items from a variety of sources, including online resources and microform. Subscribers to the collection are encouraged to participate in the maintenance of this bibliography by calling our attention to omissions, suggesting additions, and notifying us of newly discovered materials.

~Alexander Street Press

To access the resource from on campus, click here. From off campus, you can log into our proxy server and access the resource on our database page.