Library guides and databases: Black Studies: Databases

Key databases

UCL Library Services subscribes to many electronic databases which provide access to a variety of resources. There is a full a-z list of databases but the most relevant ones to use to discover Black Studies material are listed on this page. These include:

Database trial

UCL Library Services currently has a trial for the Africa Commons database. Access the trial and send us your feedback on this resource. The trial ends on 31st March 2025. For more information see this blog post.

Africa Commons is a project from Coherent to digitize, disseminate, and discover African cultural materials. The database consists of five collections:

African History and Culture – an index, search engine and preservation tool for more than 500,000 openly available books, magazines, and other primary sources
Black South African Magazines – the first and only digital collection of magazines created for Black audiences in Africa from 1937 to 1973.
Southern African Films and Documentaries – hundreds of African documentaries, oral histories, and other films for study and learning.
East African Magazines, Newspapers, and Films: The Hilary Ng’weno Archive – collection of full-run magazines, newspapers, and films from the legendary Kenyan journalist, Hilary Ng’weno.
West African Magazines – collection of rare, historically significant magazines from West Africa, digitized for the first time.

Key databases for finding peer-reviewed literature

Africa Bibliography
The online version of Africa Bibliography is an authoritative guide to works in African studies published under the auspices of the International African Institute annually since 1984.
African Journals Online
UCL has access to Open Access titles only. Collection of peer-reviewed, African-published scholarly journals. Over 500 peer-reviewed journals from 31 African countries, more than half of the 100 000 plus full text articles on the site are in Open Access journal partners, and are free to download.
America: History and Life
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Anthropology Plus
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Including the indexing from Anthropological Literature and Anthropological Index Online, Anthropology Plus provides worldwide indexing of core and lesser known journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. Coverage is from the late 19th century to the present.
ASSIA Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts
ASSIA covers the literature of health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. The database abstracts and indexes over 500 journals and periodicals from 19 countries, including the UK and US
Chicano Database
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Database focusing on the Mexican-American and Chicano experience, as well as the broader Latino experience of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans and Central American immigrants. Explores the broad dimensions of class, race and gender within the Chicano and Latino U.S. experience.
HAPI Online
HAPI Online combines current information about Latin America with in-depth coverage spanning more than thirty years. A core resource
Historical Abstracts
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. This database can be accessed by no more than 6 users at a time. Complete reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excl. the United States and Canada - see America: History and Life).
Humanities International Index
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Humanities International Index is a comprehensive database covering journals, books and other important reference sources in the humanities.
IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (ProQuest)
Index of literature in the social sciences and related subjects.
International African Bibliography Online
International and interdisciplinary specialist bibliography of African Studies offering access to approx. Includes 140,000 entries from 1971 to 2015 with approx. 4,000 new entries per year, including non-English speaking publications. Accessibility statement for De Gruyter.
JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Core resource. Accessibility statement for JSTOR.
Latin America & Iberia Database (ProQuest)
Multidisciplinary resource of full-text, scholarly journals published in many Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal, supporting many subjects, including business, medicine, science, technology, social sciences and humanities
PRISMA Database
A comprehensive reference resource providing more than hundred full-text scholarly journals with articles in the social sciences and humanities for the interdisciplinary academic study of Hispanic and Latin America and the Caribbean Basin. It offers key titles in English, Spanish and Portuguese indexed in the Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI).
Project Muse
Full text of journals, mainly in the humanities and social sciences, with some scientific and medical titles. Accessibility statement for Project Muse.
ProQuest Black Studies
This collection combines primary and secondary sources, including leading historical Black newspapers, archival documents and collections, key government materials, videos, writings by major Black intellectuals and leaders, scholarly journals, and essays by top scholars in Black Studies. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is the largest multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. Over 160 subjects areas are covered including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
ProQuest One Literature
ProQuest One Literature contains 3 million literature citations from thousands of journals, monographs, dissertations, and more than 500,000 primary works – including rare and obscure texts, multiple versions, and non-traditional sources like comics, theatre performances, and author readings. Includes content from Literature Online (LION). Accessibility statement for ProQuest One Literature.
SCOPUS
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Scopus. Multi-disciplinary database containing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series and web resources. Please use IE 8 or higher, Google Chrome or Firefox browsers.
Sociological Abstracts
This Indexing and Abstracting database covers the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Pulled from nearly 2,000 serial publications, including journal articles, conference papers, books, dissertations.
Web of Science
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Web of Science. Defaults to a ‘Core Collection’ search, covering the main Web of Science journals database; select 'All Databases' option from the drop down menu to cross-search all of UCL's subscribed Web of Science products, including Biosis, MEDLINE etc.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA)
Indexing and abstracting over 1,500 serials, books and working papers. WPSA covers the international literature of political science and international relations, along with complementary fields including international law and public administration/policy.

Key databases for newspapers and magazines: current coverage and historical archives

African American Newspapers, Series 1: 1827-1998
Providing access to 280 U.S. newspapers and chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, this collection includes papers from more than 35 states and features many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. Accessibility statement for African American Newspapers, Series 1: 1827-1998.
African American Newspapers, Series 2: 1835-1956
This database complements and expands on African American Newspapers, Series 1, 1827-1998 with more than 75 newly available newspapers all written for or by African Americans. The focus is on the lives of African Americans as individuals, an ethnic group and Americans. Accessibility statement for African American Newspapers, Series 2: 1835-1956.
African Newspapers: The British Library Collection
This collection, originally archived by the British Library, features nearly 60 newspapers from across the African continent, all published before 1900.
Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876
Focuses on the evolution of the region across two centuries chronicled within more than 140 titles from 22 islands
Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004
This archive provides more than 100 years of the Daily Mail newspaper online. As well as the regular edition of the newspaper, the Daily Mail Historical Archive also includes the Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, which was published on board the transatlantic liners that sailed between New York and Southampton between 1923 and 1931.This archive will contain content on Black studies themes as was evident in the UK at the time.
Gale OneFile News
This provides access to more than 2,300 major world newspapers, and includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts. Publications may contain content on Black studies themes.
JET Magazine Archive
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Covering art, news, politics and other social topics with an African-American focus, this archive includes over 3,100 issues providing a broad view of culture, fashion and entertainment from its first issue in 1951 until 2014.
Latin American Newspapers, Series 1: 1805-1922
This database provides more than 50 fully searchable Latin American newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring titles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and elsewhere
Latin American Newspapers, Series 2: 1822-1922
The second series of digitized Latin American Newspapers expands the number of searchable titles available from this region. Providing issues from more than 250 additional titles, this online series includes newspapers published in English, Spanish and Portuguese from 20 countries, including some countries and cities not represented in the inaugural collection of Latin American Newspapers.
Nexis
Database providing current coverage of international, national and local newspapers, back to the 1980s for most titles. Coverage within this database may include Black Studies titles.
ProQuest Black Studies
This collection combines primary and secondary sources, including leading historical Black newspapers, archival documents and collections, key government materials, videos, writings by major Black intellectuals and leaders, scholarly journals, and essays by top scholars in Black Studies. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
ProQuest Civil War Era
Containing continuous runs of regional newspapers, as well as pamphlets covering a wide range of topics this database covers a vast range of topics including the formative economic factors and other forces that led to the abolitionist movement, the 600,000 battle casualties and the emancipation of nearly 4 million slaves
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Access to 24 US historical newspapers. Specifically within this collection are the US Black newspapers: Atlanta Daily World, The Philadelphia Tribune, and The Pittsburgh Courier. The archive of the UK newspaper: The Guardian/Observer will report on black studies themes from the time. Other US titles may also contain black material. Click on 'Change Databases' and scroll down to see which titles are selected for searching. Titles can be selected or deselected based on a user's search preference.
Rock's Backpages
An archive of rock and pop music history including 30,000 newspaper and magazine articles - reviews, interviews, and feature articles, from US and UK music publications, featuring Black artists, from the 1960s to the present.
Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2021
Generally seen as the start of a new era of journalism that emerged following the repeal of stamp duty the Telegraph was directed at a wealthy, well-educated readership and is commonly associated with traditional Toryism despite its more liberal beginnings. This archive will contain content on Black studies themes as was evident in the UK at the time.
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019
Full text of The Times (London) newspaper from 1785-2019. This archive will contain content on Black studies themes as was evident in the UK at the time.

Key databases for primary sources

A primary source is a first-hand expression or evidence of an event or experience. This evidence can be in the form of the written word, images, artefacts, film or sound recordings, and will have been created at some point during the lifetime of the person involved. Using primary sources in your research adds context and credibility to your argument. Primary sources will vary depending upon what is being studied.

African American Music Reference
Chronicling the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music, this database contains the full text from major reference works, biographies, and personal narratives from oral histories. Content includes manuscripts, song-sheets, lyrics, discography data, and other text sources covering jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrels, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression. Accessibility statement for African American Music Reference.
African Diaspora, 1860-Present
After the abolition of slavery, African diasporic communities formed throughout the world. African Diaspora, 1860-present contains primary source documents, secondary sources and videos from around the world with a focus on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France. Accessibility statement for African Diaspora, 1860-Present.
Age of Exploration
This collection explores five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, and decades-long search and rescue attempts. Accessibility statement for Age of Exploration.
American Memory
Digital archive of American history, consisting mainly of items from the Library of Congress collections.
American Studies, 1621-1952
A British Online Archives Collection. This collection contains documents on American Slave Trade Records and Other Papers of the Tarleton Family, 1678-1838.
AM Explorer
Cross search multiple primary source collections spanning the 15th-21st centuries, including 'African American Communities', 'Colonial America', 'Colonial Caribbean', 'Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966', 'Race Relations in America', and 'Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice'.
Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Covering Latin American and Caribbean culture and society from the fifteenth century to the present day providing information about the indigenous peoples of the region, the Conquest (la Conquista), colonial rule, religion, struggles for independence, and political, economic, and social progress and issues in newly independent nations. Accessibility statement for Gale Primary Sources.
Archives Unbound : African American Studies
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Covers 1900 to present day.
Archives Unbound : African Studies
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Covers 1796 to 1962
Archives Unbound : Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources.
Black Central Europe
Black Central Europe collects sources on Black History in German speaking lands, arranged chronologically from 1000 AD until the present day. This bilingual database is available in English and German. Sources include paintings, photographs, letters, excerpts of novels, sculptures, newspaper articles and more.
Black Drama: Third Edition
This collection contains the full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
Black Thought and Culture
Containing approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history
Bloomsbury Architecture Library
A collection of fully-searchable text and image content, including a browse by world map function to access over 300 documents relating to African architecture.
Border and Migration Studies Online
Border and Migration Studies Online is a collection that explores and provides historical background on more than thirty key worldwide border areas, including: U.S. and Mexico; the European Union; Afghanistan; Israel; Turkey; The Congo; Argentina; China; Thailand; and others. Accessibility statement for Border and Migration Studies Online.
Civil War: Antebellum to Reconstruction
Featuring more than 150 newspapers from all regions of the United Statesplus approximately 50,000 government documents and 4,000 rare broadsides and pieces of ephemera. This diverse collection of primary materials provides unprecedented local and national coverage of American culture, politics and society from 1840-1877 a tumultuous time that redefined a nation
Colonial State Papers
Colonial State Papers provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
Decolonization: The Politics of Independence in former Colonial Territories
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Bringing together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, this archive provides primary source material created for local audiences by local actors during a period of enormous global change.
Digital Library of the Caribbean
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) provide access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections. Featuring resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. Also contains materials on ancient Maya.
Ethnographic Sound Archives Online
Includes over 2,000 hours of audio recordings from field expeditions around the world, particularly from the 1960s through the 1980s—the dawn of ethnomusicology as a codified discipline.
Ethnographic Video Online
UCL has access to Vols. I and II: Foundational Films and Vol. III: Indigenous Voices.
Governing Africa, 1808-1995
Part of British Online Archives. Comprising of the collections: Colonial Law in Africa, 1946-1966; Colonial Law in Africa, 1808-1919; Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843-1957; Zimbabwe Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1897-1980; Kenya Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907-1964; Nigeria and Cameroon Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1887-1962; Malawi Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907-1967; Sierra Leone Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1893-1961; Uganda Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1903-1961; Gambia Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1881-1966; South Africa Under Apartheid, Reports and Research by a Journalist, 1949-1995; Colonial Africa in Official Statistics, 1821-1953; Colonial Law in Africa, 1920-1945; and Apartheid Through the Eyes of South African Political Parties, 1948-1994.
Independent Voices
Digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century
Legacies of British Slave-ownership
Online Encyclopaedia of British Slave-ownership containing information about every slave-owner in the British Caribbean, Mauritius or the Cape at the moment of abolition in 1833.
Making of the Modern World
This archive provides digital images of unique primary sources that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth from the period 1450-1945. Access to all four collections. The evolving status of slavery, colonization, the Atlantic world and Latin American/Caribbean Studies generally are all part of this content.
NAACP Papers
Access to various collections of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which was formed in 1909 in the US.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online : Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Featuring monographs, manuscripts, and newspaper accounts covering issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy in Europe and Africa. Accessibility statement for Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
ProQuest Black Studies
This collection combines primary and secondary sources, including leading historical Black newspapers, archival documents and collections, key government materials, videos, writings by major Black intellectuals and leaders, scholarly journals, and essays by top scholars in Black Studies. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
Revolution and Protest Online
This collection examines the most studied and important events and themes related to revolution and protest from the 18th century through the 21st century. Documents in relation to the US Civil Rights Movement are available. Content includes video, images, personal papers, organizational and government documents, journals, books, reports, videos, monographs, and speeches.
Running the West Indies, 1678-1950
Part of British Online Archives. Comprising of the collections: Caribbean Colonial Statistics from the British Empire, 1824-1950; Canada, America & the West Indies Imports and Exports to the UK, 1678-1825; Scottish Trade with Africa and the West Indies in the Early 18th century, 1694-1709; Slavery in Jamaica, Records from a Family of Slave Owners, 1686-1860; The West Indies: Slavery, Plantations and Trade, 1759-1832; The West Indies in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1704-1950; and Antigua, Slavery and Emancipation in the Records of a Sugar Plantation, 1689-1907
Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974
Through letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories; accounts from official, radical, and alternative organizations; posters, broadsides, pamphlets, advertisements, and rare materials —125,000 pages of text and 50 hours of video—this collection tells the story of the 60s. Documents relating to the US Civil Rights Movement are available.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice
Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource includes unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice. Accessibility statement for Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Focusing on the study and understanding of the history of slavery in America and the rest of the world from the 17th century to the late 19th century. This resource consists of four collections: The Age of Emancipation; Debates over Slavery and Abolition; The Institution of Slavery and Slave Trade in the Atlantic World. Accessibility statement for Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive.
Spreading the Word, 1808-1967
Comprising of the collections: America in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1635-1928; Australia in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1808-1967; 'Bray Schools' in Canada, America and the Bahamas, 1645-1900; Canada in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1722-1952; Colonial Missionaries' Papers from America and the West Indies, 1701-1870; Colonial Women Missionaries of the Committee for Women's Work, 1861-1967; Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951; Indian and Sri Lankan Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1770-1931; Indigenous Cultures and Christian Conversion in Ghana and Sierra Leone, 1700-1850; Methodist Publications, 1855-1919; The Methodist Recorder, 1861-1919; New Zealand & Polynesian Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1838-1958; South Africa in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1819-1900; South American Missionaries' Records, 1844-1919; Tanzania and Malawi in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1857-1965; and Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Periodicals, 1744-1960
Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa : JSTOR
This resource focuses on the complex and varied liberation struggles in the region, with an emphasis on Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Accessibility statement for JSTOR
Transatlantic Slave Trade, 1675-1907
Part of British Online Archives. Comprising of the collections: American Slave Trade Records and Other Papers of the Tarleton Family, 1678-1838; Antigua, Slavery and Emancipation in the Records of a Sugar Plantation, 1689-1907; Scottish Trade with Africa and the West Indies in the Early 18th century, 1694-1709; Slave Trade Records from Liverpool, 1754-1792; Slave Trading Records from William Davenport & Co., 1745-1797; Slavery in Jamaica, Records from a Family of Slave Owners, 1686-1860; Slavery: Supporters and Abolitionists, 1675-1865; and The West Indies: Slavery, Plantations and Trade, 1759-1832.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
This collection brings together innovative scholarship, primary documents, books, images, essays, book and website reviews and is organized around the history of women, including black women, in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000.
World Heritage Sites: Africa : JSTOR
This resource links visual, contextual, and spatial documentation of African heritage sites. Accessibility statement for JSTOR.

Library Databases

Library databases A-Z
Browse or search our databases by title, or use the Subject drop down box at the top to narrow down to databases in your subject area.

ProQuest Black Studies

The ProQuest Black Studies database is an interdisciplinary collection of resources including the full text of the most influential Black historical newspapers, scholarly journals, archival and other primary materials related to the Black experience, and topic pages collating resources on notable people and organizations from the late 18th Century to the early 21st Century, including Black Lives Matter, the Black Panther Party, and The Civil Rights Congress.

ProQuest Black Studies This collection combines primary and secondary sources, including leading historical Black newspapers, archival documents and collections, key government materials, videos, writings by major Black intellectuals and leaders, scholarly journals, and essays by top scholars in Black Studies. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.

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Black Studies