Books
Search the Local Catalog for books about or by the person you are researching. The catalog l lists all materials owned or subscribed to by the OU library.
If the OU library doesn't have anything, try searching Worldcat. Worldcat is an international catalog of books and other materials owned by thousands of libraries. You may borrow (interlibrary loan) materials through the Worldcat database.
Newspapers
Search newspapers for articles about the person you are researching. You may find obituaries in newspapers. See a more complete list of digital newspapers here.
- African American Newspapers: The 19th Century (Coherent Digital)Includes Freedom's Journal, The Colored American, The North Star, The National Era, Provincial Freeman, Frederick Douglass Paper, and The Christian Recorder.
- America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922; Readex/Newsbank)Early American newspapers. (NOTE: library does not own all the series in this collection.)
- British Library Newspapers (1800-1900; Gale)Sixty-nine regional and local newspapers.
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (1690-present; Library of Congress)Includes some digitized newspapers and a directory of newspapers published 1690-present.
- Gateway to Oklahoma History (1850s-1920s+; Oklahoma Historical Society)Online repository of Oklahoma history. Originally covered newspapers up to the 1920s but later years are increasingly being added. Includes African American newspapers.
- Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980; Readex/Newsbank)Spanish and Spanish-English newspapers printed in the U.S.
- Historically Black Newspapers (ProQuest)Includes these historically Black papers:
-Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2010;
-Chicago Defender, 1909-2010;
-Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2010;
-New York Amsterdam News, 1922-2010;
-Norfolk Journal and Guide, 1916-2010;
-Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2010. - Historical U.S. Newspapers (ProQuest)Includes these U.S. papers:
-Chicago Tribune, 1849--nearly the present;
-Los Angeles Times, 1881--nearly the present;
-New York Times, 1851--30 days ago;
-Wall Street Journal, 1889--nearly the present;
-Washington Post, 1877--nearly the present.
(The UK's Guardian and Observer, 1791-2003, is also included in this search as are papers from the Historically Black Newspapers collection.) - Newspapers.com Library Edition (1700s-2024; Ancestry.com via Proquest)A Metropolitan Library (OKC public) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. Full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles to small local newspapers in the United States and other countries. NOTE: The library edition does not have all newspapers that the personal subscription includes.
- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers (Gale)Newspapers from the 1800s.
- Oklahoman (1981-present; Newsbank)Text only, 1981-2019. Scanned images of the paper available from 2020-present.
- Oklahoman Archive (1901-present; Newsbank)A Pioneer Library System (Norman) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman. Full text of images to 1991. Text only 1992-2019. NOTE: Scroll down and click on Oklahoman Archive - Newsbank.
- Oklahoman Collection (1901-present; Newsbank)A Metropolitan Library (OKC public) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman. Full text of images to 1991. Text only 1992-2019.
- Times Digital Archive (London, 1785-2019; Gale)Does NOT include the Sunday edition.
Journal Articles
Search databases for articles about or by the person you're researching.
- America: History and Life (Ebsco)U.S. and Canadian topics, prehistory to the present. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc.
- Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (Ebsco)Formerly Bibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA). Native North American history, life, and culture. References to or full text of journal articles, books, essays, conference papers, dissertations, U.S. government documents.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (Ebsco)References to or full text of journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, dissertations, and more.
- JSTORIncludes the full text and complete archives of core scholarly journals in many disciplines, some dating from the 1600s. Current issues may not be available.
- Project MuseFull text of scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
Western History Collections
If you are interested in individuals from the American West, you may want to try researching at the Western History Collections (WHC). The WHC contains materials relating to the development of the Trans-Mississippi West and Native American cultures. It is located in Monnet Hall on the north oval. The WHC Manuscript Collection features many family collections. Try searching for a family name in the finding aids database.
Other Resources
- The Cleveland County Historical Society has some material available online in its Digital Archives.
- FamilySearch: This is a bit like the free version of Ancestry.com. (In Norman, Ancestry.com is only available in-house at the Norman Public Library branch of Pioneer Library System, unless you have your own personal subscription.) Although it is free, you must create an account first.
- Fold3, Library Edition: A Metropolitan Library (OKC public) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. Provides access to historic military records and other documents.
- Genealogy Resources through the Metropolitan (OKC Public) Library System: Many resources are available online through Metropolitan. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. Even if you don't live in OKC, those who live, work, or attend school in Cleveland, McClain, or Pottawatomie counties may apply for a Metro reciprocal account, which offers access to their collection and most services.
- U.S. Census Resources at the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS): The OHS Research Center features several online research aids. These include 1933 Unemployment Relief records index, the 1890 Oklahoma Territory Census records index, and American Indian Censuses on Microfilm index. and other resources available onsite.