HISTORY - USEFUL WEBSITES

A range of high-quality resources for History are available on the web. Begin by exploring QMUL's own rich archival collections:

• QMUL Archives: Institutional records, personal archives and rare prints dating from the 17th century to the present day. The collections document the history of the College, and provide vital evidence for research in the arts, humanities and social science.
• The Archives Hub: Provides a gateway to thousands of the UK's archives. Representing over 220 institutions across the country, the Archives Hub is an effective way to discover unique and often little-known sources to support your research.
• Borromei Bank Research Project  - a new historical open-access website launched by QM School of History, containing translated banking ledgers of a Milanese company: Filippo Borromei and partners of Bruges for the year 1438 and Filippo Borromei and partners of Londo for the years 1436 to 1438.
• British Pathé: A multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. Comprehensive archive of newsreels, video, film, footage and stills.
• British History Online: A digital library of primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland. Please note that this is a subscription site, and not all the sources are freely available.
• The British Union of Fascists: Newspapers and secret files: 1933-1951: These papers cover the growth of the British Union of Fascists and the impact of WW2 upon them.  
• Gresham College is a registered charity which has been providing a wide remit of free public lectures within the City of London. Check out over 2,000 lectures freely available online from their website.
• History in Focus: History in Focus was an occasional series taking a thematic approach to history. Each issue was designed to provide an introduction to the chosen topic and to help stimulate interest and debate. The site is no longer updated.
• History Online: Produced by the Institute of Historical Research, this website aims to provide a guide to high-quality information resources for the teaching and learning of history.
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers: A collection of over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present. Includes useful guidance on the workings of the Commons and the records it produces (e.g. Bills, House Papers and Command Papers). Other records of debates in the House of Commons and the Lords can be accessed via the Parliamentary Archives website.
• The Labyrinth: Provides free, organised access to resources in medieval studies.
• Legacies of British Slave-ownership: Online resource that contains the names of slave-owners in the British Caribbean, Mauritius and the Cape at the moment of abolition.
• Mass Observation: The Mass Observation Archive specialises in material about everyday life in Britain. It contains papers generated by the original Mass Observation social research organisation (1937 to early 1950s), and newer material collected continuously since 1981. The Archive is a charitable trust in the care of the University of Sussex.
• Medieval Sources Online: Full-text sources from Manchester University Press and access to their medieval portal.
• The National Archives: Has a collection of over 11 million historical government and public records, from Domesday Book to modern goverment papers and digital files. Materials include paper and parchment, electronic records and websites, photographs, posters, maps, drawings and paintings.
• Open Book Publishers is a UK HSS publisher which enables you to access an openly available list of Open Educational Resources (OER) which includes books and textbooks for free. 
• The Peace Process: Layers of Meaning: Contains (1) Layers of Meaning Online Directory (Lomond): a select, authorative archive of all extant interviews of key figures in the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, and (2) The Peace Portal: a guide to other online resources relating to the history of conflict and peace-making in Northern Ireland. The Peace Process: Layers of Meaning is a hybrid project involving collaboration between Queen Mary, Trinity College Dublin and Dundalk Institute of Technology. It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Peace III).
• TUC History Online: Provides access to TUC reports from 1868 to 1968 and archival material documenting the history of trade unions, the General Strike, etc.
• World Wide Web Virtual Library History Central Catalogue: Links to many sites, arranged by topic and by region.

Be careful, though, when using the internet for research, that the sites you find are reliable and up to date. Check when the page was last updated and think about who is providing the information and why. Sites such as Wikipedia are not suitable for academic work.
The archived version of Internet Detective tutorial looks at the critical thinking required when using the Internet for research, and offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of websites.