Finding print primary sources with OBIS & Summon
Many useful primary sources will be collected in print or ebook compilations, with several texts or images on a related topic collected in a single volume. The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages is an example of such a source.
The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages by ISBN: 0719052041Publication Date: 2000-05-25The towns of Italy in the later middle ages presents over one hundred fascinating documents, carefully structured around the crisis of the fourteenth century and arranged in contrasting groups of texts. By connecting documents in translation to recent scholarship and debates, it addresses five key areas of medieval urban history: the physical environment, civic religion, economy, society and politics.
Subjects that are useful for finding primary sources in OBIS and Summon:
- Sources
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- Interviews
- Pictoral Works
- Maps
- Early Works to 1800
- Medieval
- Centuries (e.g. 11th century)
Summon indexes the full text of some (but not all) of our print sources. Therefore it can be useful to combine a subject search for subject headings associated with primary sources with a keyword search for more specific concepts. The proximity search can help ensure that multiple concepts are addressed in the same text inside a collection.
To find books where the word city and the word food appear within 100 words of each other, you would use the following search in Summon:
- "city food"~100
Texts
- Early English Books Online This link opens in a new windowSearchable scans of nearly all existing English books up to the year 1700; this collection now contains over 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement. Dates of Coverage: 1473-1700
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust is a repository of digital content from 50 research libraries, including electronic versions of nearly 8 million books at the time of writing.
Note: As of May 2023, Oberlin is a HathiTrust member. Oberlin students, faculty, and staff can access member features by clicking on the “LOG IN” button, choosing “Oberlin College and Conservatory”, and using their ObieID to authenticate.
- Gallica Digital LibraryOver a million documents accessible for free: Books, Manuscripts, Maps, Images, Newspapers, Magazines, Periodicals, Sound records, Music, Scores, e-Books.
Images
- JSTOR Images This link opens in a new window
Over 1 million images selected to support research and reaching in art history from pre-historical to contemporary media.
- Digital ScriptoriumUse this database to search for Illuminated Manuscripts held in academic, research and public libraries in the United States.
- Europeana This link opens in a new windowA digital library of images, texts, audio, and video from Europe's museums, archives, and libraries.
- Historic CitiesMaps and selected links to other relevant material on historic cities. Especially strong on Europe, including cities of regional importance.
- Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
The largest thematic archive of medieval iconography available, the Index reproduces works of art, arranged by subject, from the 1st c. through around 1550 CE. Formerly the Index of Christian Art, the Index now includes secular subjects and a growing number from medieval Jewish and Islamic culture.
- Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance This link opens in a new windowIndexes academic journals covering the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700) primarily in Europe. Dates of Coverage: 1859 to date
- Metropolitan Museum of ArtImages of works of art The Met believes to be in the public domain, widely and freely available for unrestricted use
- National Gallery, London - Paintings
A complete list of paintings by each artist in the collection. Use to search for specific artists.
