From the Field: A Case Study in Using Historical Periodical Databases to Revise Previous Research

Abstract

By periodicals, are understood all those publications which issue from the press at stated periods. In this sense, it comprehends alike almanacs and reviews, annuals and newspapers, and is the origin of a distinct branch of literature, and a new mode of disseminating knowledge . . . Since its origin, within three centuries, it has multiplied far beyond any of the more permanent productions of letters, and connected itself with all the elements, whether moral or mental, political, literary or scientific, of civil or social life.1 This is a wonderful 1834 description of periodicals and what was to be included among their pages during the first half of the 19th century. Now, more than 175 years later, by choosing the correct keywords, the researcher can view this entire article using the American Periodical Series Online, 1740-1900. This subscription database includes 7 million pages of content, from the first American magazine published in 1741, to the newly included periodicals of the World War II period.2 With this extensive collection of more than 1,100 periodicals, information can be located on almost every aspect of the American experience, and scholars and students have access to information that can help to reexamine topics in new and exciting ways. Although the breadth of this database is tremendous, there are also databases, not limited to libraries or research institutions with funds to purchase these specialized primary sources, which provide much more limited access to American periodicals from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One example is Making of America, which is a joint effort between the University of Michigan and Cornell University. This digital library includes thirty-five periodicals spanning the antebellum period through reconstruction. American Memory