Introduction to Historical Research : Multimedia sources

This guide is an introduction to selected resources available for historical research. It covers both primary sources and secondary materials.

Sample Digital Multimedia Collections

AP Images
AP Images includes Associated Press primary source material comprised of captioned photographs, maps, charts, logos, illustrations, news stories, audio clips, etc. from the 1800 s to 48 hours ago.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.
rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. The collection categories include old and antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall, children and manuscript maps.
Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics Digital Video Library
The collection provides a digital venue for documenting the expression of social and political life through performance in the many cultures and political landscapes of the Americas
C-Span Video Library
Videos and transcripts of C-Span programs; includes public affairs programming, Congressional proceedings, news conferences, BookTV non-fiction author talks and interviews, and more. Contains every C-SPAN program aired since 1987, now totaling over 160,000 hours.
Mass Observation
A pioneering social research organization, Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge. Their aim was to create an 'anthropology of ourselves', and by recruiting a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers they studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain.
more...less...
This resource covers the original Mass Observation project, the bulk of which was carried out from 1937 until the mid-1950s, offering an unparalleled insight into everyday life in Britain during these transformative years. The Archive of Mass-Observation has been used by anthropologists, cultural and social historians, literary scholars, performance artists, sociologists, and those working in education, war studies and gender studies. The digital project includes a complete set of the File Reports, 1937-1972, with full text searching ability; access to all of the Day Surveys, Directives and Diaries, 1937-1945; topic collections covering: famous persons, household budgeting, juvenile delinquency, Korea, peace & the public, radio listening, world outlook, film, reading habits, dreams, religion, victory celebrations, capital punishment, posters, smoking habits, drinking habits, gambling, and the September 1946 exhibition held at the Victoria & Albert Museum "Britain Can Make It". In addition, this database includes The 'Worktown Collection;' Nine contextual essays by leading scholars describing the archive and suggesting research and teaching strategies; photographs by Humphrey Spender, interactive maps, and much valuable supporting material.

Finding Multimedia Sources

Multimedia sources can sometimes be found by searching online library catalogs, such as UW-Madison library catalog or WorldCat. There are also databases of multimedia materials for specific areas of study such as the South and Southeast Asia Video Archive and Women's Audio and Visuals in English (WAVE).

Additionally, there are digital collections devoted exclusively to multimedia sources that might useful.

AP Images
AP Images includes Associated Press primary source material comprised of captioned photographs, maps, charts, logos, illustrations, news stories, audio clips, etc. from the 1800 s to 48 hours ago.
American Memory--Library of Congress
American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Moving Image Archive
This library, sponsored by the Internet Archive, contains thousands of digital movies which range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to cartoons and concerts.
ARTstor
ARTstor contains over one million images in the areas of western and non-western architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, and visual culture.
Naxos Music Library
Naxos Music Library is the world's largest classical music listening service.The collection also offers jazz, folk, gospel, pop, rock, and spoken word.

Sample Local Multimedia Collections

Wisconsin Historical Images
The Society's Archives document virtually all aspects of the rich social, economic, and political history of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. In addition to strong holdings in regional history, our collections have a national focus in the areas of nineteenth-century exploration, Native Americans, mass communications, and social action movements.
Africa Focus Collection Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continent
This collection contains more than 3000 slides, 500 photographs, and 50 hours of sounds from forty-five different countries.
East Asian Collection
Includes historical images that present a visual archive of 20th century East Asian cultural heritage.
SouthEast Asian Images & Texts
A digital archive of historical images for Southeast Asia, reflecting a broad spectrum of topics including History, Geography, Anthropology, and Political Science of the region.
The University of Wisconsin Collection
This collection includes images, manuscripts, papers, and books, all relating to the University's history or mission, including selections from the UW archives, Badger yearbooks, and other pertinent resources.

Local Multimedia Collections

Historical multimedia sources are available in many locations on campus and in Madison. This is a list of a few locations of interest:

Many of these collections also contain map collections as does the Arthur H. Robinson Map Library.