Resources for Canadian History

1. Find Books

Use TRELLIS to find the books you need for your research. TRELLIS is the catalogue of the library collections of the Universities of Guelph, Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier.

Use the free delivery service for materials located at WLU, UG, and the Annex.

For books that are not charged out, choose "Request Item from TRELLIS". Then you should place a hold. Choose "STJ (UW) Circ desk" to have books sent to the St. Jerome's Library. Delivery time is 2-3 days. If books are charged out, you may place a recall on them.

2. Find Journal / Newspaper Articles

Please note: to use these resources from off campus, click on Connect From Home and enter your Watcard barcode number and last name.

Database, Abstract, Index

Time Period

Publication Coverage

America: History and Life (includes Canada)

Covers scholarly literature including book reviews and dissertations on Canada and the United States.

All periods

1954 - present

J-STOR

Makes available the back issues of journals (with a 3-5 year "moving wall") in a variety of humanities and social science disciplines.

All periods

1800s - present

Canadian Periodical Index

1988 to present

1988 - present

CBCA Complete (Canadian Business and Current Affairs: Complete)

Provides access to over 1600 Canadian journals, magazines on all topics.

All periods

1982-1992 index; 1993-present full text

First Nations Periodical Index

Identifies journal literature concerning mainly Canadian Natives.

Prehistoric - present

1980s - present

Humanities Full Text

Contains citations and abstracts from 400 periodicals as well as the full text of over 96 periodicals. Among the disciplines included are literature and language, history, philosophy, classical studies, folklore, gender studies, performing arts, and theology.

Can be searched simultaneously with Social Sciences Full Text.

All periods

1907 - present

Social Sciences Full Text

Contains citations and abstracts from 415 periodicals as well as the full text of over 112 periodicals. Subjects include psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, history, political science and public administration.

Can be searched simultaneously with Humanities Full Text.

All periods

1907 - present

Globe & Mail, Canada's Heritage from 1844

From 1844

1844 to 4 years ago

3. Find Canadian Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Firsthand, participant or contemporary observations of a time, person or event, or elements of the material culture associated with a time, person or event.

Primary sources could be contemporary newspaper and magazine articles, contemporary municipal/provincial/state histories, oral history tapes and transcripts, diaries and letters, business or institutional archives, speeches, and log books. They also include maps and plans, photographs, paintings and other documentary art, the natural and built environments, and objects in museum collections. Telephone books and city directories, public records like the census, military, immigration or land sale records, and private records like church or synagogue registries or club membership lists. "Ephemera" -- which include menus, train or steamship schedules, meeting agendas, theatre tickets, laundry lists and other kinds of printed material of temporary significance of the time are also considered primary sources.

Online collections:

• Library and Archives Canada

• CBC Archives

• Canadian Heritage Gallery - images of Canada and its people

• Canadian History Websites via UW Library's History Research Starting Points

• Canadian Illustrated News 1869-1883

• Early Canadiana Online - pre 1920

• North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories

• North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial to 1950

4. If you need further assistance, please come to the SJU Library or contact the Librarian, Lorna Rourke

(With thanks to Jane Forgay, UW Librarian, for her guidance)