The Connecticut State Library (CSL) has a collection of indexes and databases to help you find articles - and many include books, government documents, and other resources. They cover different date ranges and different subject areas.
Some, like Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, we have only in print. If you come to the library in person, a librarian can help you learn how to use it.
Many of our databases are online and full text. When it is a subscription database from a commercial vendor, you will need a card for the Connecticut State Library (your school or public library card will not work). Not all databases have full text of articles/resources - some are just indexes that tell you where to find the actual resource. We have additional indexes that are not online - contact us for help learning which resource to use.
Below are tips to get a CSL library card, find databases and determine which have remote access and which require you to be in our building to use. A list of suggested databases follows.
Until our web site migration is complete, please use the handout in the file below. When the new web site is complete, the screen shots (images of what the computer screen will look like) will be updated.
Watch the video or see directions below.
These are only a few suggestions of databases you may access from home with a CT State Library card. There are more: some have remote access, others that may be used within our building in Hartford. For a complete list of databases, please see:
Suggested DatabasesThe focus is on the current year's theme. Newspapers will be listed in next section. |
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Biographies, events, primary sources, timelines, images, maps and charts, tribes and culture areas. Remote access with a library card issued by the Connecticut State Library.
This HeinOnline database covers civil rights in the United States as their legal protections and definitions are expanded to cover more and more Americans. Containing publications from the Commission on Civil Rights, legislative histories on landmark legislation, briefs from relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases, and more.
Index to African-American and non-white minority troop enlistments from Connecticut during the Civil War taken from the original enlistment papers stored in the Connecticut State Archives.
Provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Also included is a digitized version of The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, which contains bibliographic records and extracts for thousands of additional documents.
Covers U.S. immigration history from the earliest colonial settlements to the present.
The LGBTQ+ Rights database is a HeinOnline collection of materials relating to the gay rights movement in America, including an interactive timeline, as well as subject-coded court cases, scholarly articles, books, pamphlets, reports, and more. This collection charts the gay rights movement in America, showing the civil rights codified into law in the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the inequalities that still exist today.
Access scanned images of the New Haven County, County Court records.
Comprehensive index and selected full-text source for Congressional publications. Coverage: 1819-
HeinOnline: "It brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world."
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is considered an essential publication for studying American history. Spanning more than two centuries with more than 17,000 bound volumes, the records in this series include House and Senate documents, House and Senate reports, and much more. The Serial Set began publication in 1817 with the 15th Congress, 1st session.
Some newspaper databases have only historic issues, some only modern, and some have both. Read the date range given in the description. Modern newspapers may give insight into impact over time.
Full-text of American newspapers, 1690-1922.
Newspaper. Coverage: Access to 1764 - 1999 is a separate subscription provided by the Connecticut State Library and requires a CT State Library card.
Historical New York Times with Index.Coverage: Full-text: 1851-2019. Index: 1851-1993.
Full text of the New York Times newspaper, 1980 to current. The complete text of recent articles is provided in the ASCII format. The New York Times Book Review and Sunday Magazine are provided in PDF format.
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