Alumni Databases
Licensing agreements require that some of our electronic resources are limited to current faculty, staff and students. Some material in our library catalog will not be available due to these licensing agreements.
These databases are available to the graduates of Vanderbilt University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. Alumni of training and certificate programs should contact their alumni association for options regarding access to information resources.
Alumni without a VUNetID may request one through the Ask a Librarian service. (Note: To expedite the request, please indicate the school from which you graduated, and your year of graduation.)
Alumni VUNet IDs must be renewed annually. Before your VUNet ID expires, you may submit a request to renew it by emailing: libalum@vanderbilt.edu.
- African American Communities
Pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports, and in-depth oral histories reveal the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity. Focuses predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina.
- Age of Exploration
Explore five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, the discovery of the Northwest and Northeast Passages, and the race for the Poles. Features an in-depth interactive visualization of over 50 influential voyages.
- America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts
Oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artifacts, and military records of American military personnel and civilians show how World War Two changed American society and the economy, how it impacted individuals and their families, and the legacy of the war in human terms.
- American Community Survey (ACS)
Annual United States survey of population and housing. Covers age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data.
- American History, 1493-1945
Primary source documents from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History that cover the major themes of American History.
- American Indian Histories and Cultures
Manuscripts, artwork, and rare printed books that provide unique insight into interactions between American Indians and Europeans from their earliest contact right up to the civil rights movement. Sourced from the Newberry Library’s Edward E. Ayer Collection.
- American Indian Newspapers
National periodicals as well as local community news and student publications covering subjects from an Indigenous perspective, including the civil rights era and American Indian Movement (AIM), education, environmentalism, land rights, and cultural representation.
- American West
Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Everett D. Graff Collection at the Newberry Library cover social, political, and economic aspects of the American West. Explore tales of frontier life, Indigenous Peoples, the growth of urban centers, and the environmental impact of westward expansion.
- Apartheid South Africa
British Foreign Office files on the apartheid Governments of South Africa. These formerly restricted documents, sourced from The National Archives, UK, provide unprecedented levels of detail, with in-depth analysis of events, international reaction and policy dilemmas, accompanied by numerous first-hand accounts and reports.
- ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Historical Monographs Collection, Series 1 & 2 (Alumni Access) Key Database
Publications documenting the recovery of languages used during the biblical era, the conflict between religion and science, the growing interest in Eastern religions and other world religions, and significant shifts in the religious identification of Americans, among many other topics. Alumni login using their VUNetID.
- ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Religion Database with ATLA Serials (Alumni Access)
Index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion. Some full text. Alumni login using their VUNetID.
- Baudelaire Database
Bibliographic citations relating to the 19th century French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire; compiled from book excerpts, reviews, journal articles, and various ephemera.
- Children's Literature and Culture
Digitized rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork produced for, about and, in some cases, by children.
- China, America and the Pacific
Manuscripts, rare printed sources, images, objects, and maps document the cultural and trading relationships that emerged between America, China, and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries.
- China: Culture and Society
Extremely rare pamphlets from Cornell University Library’s Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia covering education, emigration, the foreign presence, missionaries, wars, rebellion, reform, opium, healthcare, and language.
- China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980
English-language original source material detailing China¹s interaction with the West. Provides insight into customs, events, and the monumental social and political upheaval that recreated China as a modern power.
- Church Missionary Society Periodicals
Publications from the Church Missionary Society, the South American Missionary Society, and the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society that document missionary work and provide a unique perspective on global history and cultural encounters.
- Colonial America
Manuscript material from the Colonial Office files at the UK National Archives that documents all aspects of life in colonial America. Includes original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies.
- Confidential Print: Africa
Important papers generated by the British Government's Foreign and Colonial Offices between 1834-1966, ranging from single-page letters or telegrams to comprehensive dispatches.
- Confidential Print: Latin America
Papers of the British Foreign and Colonial Offices, 1833-1969. Documents include dispatches, telegrams, investigative reports and treaties. Revolutions, political movements, railway development, the Panama Canal, the slave trade, immigration, the Vargas dictatorship in Brazil, indigenous relations.
- Confidential Print: Middle East
Papers of the British Foreign and Colonial Offices covering events from the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Middle East Conference of 1921, the Mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, and the Suez Crisis in 1956, to the partition of Palestine, post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
- Confidential Print: North America
Papers of the British Foreign and Colonial Offices covering such topics as slavery, Prohibition, the First and Second World Wars, racial segregation, territorial disputes, the League of Nations, McCarthyism, and the nuclear bomb.
- Data-Planet Statistical Datasets
Dynamically compare and manipulate statistical data to create tables, maps, and figures.
- Defining Gender
British primary sources providing a gendered perspective on social conduct, power distribution within the family, religion and morality, consumption and leisure, education of men and women, and perceptions of the body.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Comprehensive coverage of all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content.
- Early Modern England: Society, Culture & Everyday Life, 1500-1700
Primary sources that document how prominent families to 'ordinary' people experienced everyday working, family, religious, and administrative life across societies and regions in England.
- East India Company
Executive papers and factory records of the East India Company charts the history of British trade with the East, politics, and the rise and fall of the British Empire.
- Ebook Central Alumni Access
Ebooks from publishers in all academic subject areas. Alumni login using their VUNetID.
- Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship and The Stage
Unique archive of almost every play submitted for license in Britain between 1737 and 1824, as well as hundreds of documents that provide social context for the plays.
- Eighteenth Century Journals
Archive of rare historical journals that examine a variety of topical issues such as colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house gossip and discussion.
- Empire Online
Manuscript, printed, and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences, predominantly from the British Library. Secondary resources include scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
- Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings
Audio recordings, videos, field notebooks, and journals document musical traditions and how music interacts with different societies and cultures all over the globe.
- Everyday Life and Women In America
Monographs, pamphlets, periodicals, and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes. The collection is rich in conduct of life and domestic management literature, offering insights into the daily lives of women and men, as well as emphasizing contrasts in regional, urban and rural cultures.
- First Research (Intellect)
Industry Profiles: overviews, challenges, trends, executive insight, call prep questions, financials, forecasts, growth rating, and industry drivers. Industries by economic metrics: financial, HR, industry drivers, forecasts.
- First World War
Covers an array of international perspectives by showcasing intimate personal narratives, wartime propaganda and recruitment material, the truly global reach of the conflict, and the role of women in war through various documentary and visual forms.
- Food and Drink in History
Key food and drink history stories from the evolution of food within everyday life to haute cuisine, charting key issues around agriculture and food production, and looking into advertising histories of key food and drink brands. The materials in this collection illustrate the deep links between food and identity, politics, power, gender, race, and socio-economic status.
- Foreign Office Files for China
Formerly restricted British diplomatic dispatches, letters, newspaper cuttings, maps, economic assessments, and synopses on leading Chinese personalities from the constant exchange of information between London and British diplomatic outposts in China. Provides unprecedented levels of detail into one of the most turbulent centuries of Chinese history
- Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
British diplomatic dispatches and files covering the high politics of Independence and Partition, social and cultural interchange after 1947, and the ramifications that these changes continue to have throughout South Asia today.
- Foreign Office Files for Japan
British government files document Anglo-Japanese diplomatic relations and provide significant insight into the events between First World War victory and Second World War defeat, crucial to understanding the political journey of Japan and its rise to modernity.
- Foreign Office files for South East Asia, 1963-1980
Primary source documents that offer insight into the political and economic challenges faced during this period as the region moved towards industrialization and establishing the foundations for economic growth.
- Foreign Office Files for the Middle East
Diplomatic correspondence, minutes, reports, political summaries, and personality profiles from the UK National Archives addressing policies, economies, political relationships, and significant events in Middle East countries.
- Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement, and Colonial Encounters
Primary source materials on the creation of new states, trade networks, and movements of people document the existence and consequences on the various frontiers that arose from the migration of Europeans to Africa, Australasia, and North America.
- Gender: Identity and Social Change
Primary source materials from men’s and women’s organizations, advice literature, and etiquette books documenting women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, government and legislation, employment, education, the body, the family, and changing societal expectations about gender roles.
- Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange
Visual, manuscript, and printed materials explore the history of fifteen key commodities that have been transported and consumed around the world for hundreds of years, transforming societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption, and cultural practices.
- Global Music Archive
Traditional and popular song, music, and dance of Africa and the Americas. Includes the Digital Collection of East African Recordings and the Appalachian Dulcimer Archive.
- Grand Tour
Travel writings and works of some of Britain’s greatest artists, writers, and thinkers, revealing how interaction with European culture shaped their creative and intellectual sensibilities. Also includes many writings by forgotten or anonymous travelers, including many women, whose daily experiences offer a vivid insight into the experience and practicalities of travel across the centuries.
- Hein Online Alumni Access
Extensive coverage of law reviews and publications by the American Bar Association.
- Hoovers Key Database Popular
Details on US and international companies, executives, market research reports, and trade publications. Includes financials, subsidiaries, and trade and business news.
- India, Raj and Empire
Explore the history of South Asia and the relationship between Britain and India through primary source materials ranging from the papers of key East India Company representatives and colonial officials to records of daily life in Agra, Bombay, Lahore, and Madras.
- J. Walter Thompson: Advertising in America
Documents the history, operation, policies, and accomplishments of one of the world's largest and oldest advertising firms. Provides insight into company culture, how advertising works, how decisions are made, and the influence that that advertising has over culture.
- Jewish Life in America
Charting the Jewish Diaspora from the earliest settlements through to the mass European influx of the early twentieth century, primary source materials offer insight into the everyday lives of the American Jewish population, explores the communal and social aspects of Jewish identity and culture, and traces Jewish involvement in the political life of American society as a whole.
- Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Mass Tourism
Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs, and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility, and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world.
- Library Search
Check out the Library Search which finds print and electronic items, including journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, books, reviews, legal documents, and much more. Note: Due to licensing restrictions, some content is only available to current students, faculty, and staff.
- Literary Manuscripts: 17th and 18th Century Poetry from the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
Facsimile images of manuscripts of 17th and 18th century verse held in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. Alongside original compositions are copied verses, translations, songs, and riddles.
- Literary Manuscripts: Victorian Manuscripts from the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library
Victorian Manuscripts from the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of The New York Public Library. Contains unpublished poems, working notebooks, holograph manuscripts, and drawings which trace the inspiration and genesis behind the period’s greatest works.
- Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive
Primary sources for studying the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright, and the history of bookbinding.
- London Low Life
Rare books, ephemera, maps, periodicals, and other materials relating to 18th, 19th and early 20th century London. Chronology, interactive maps, essays, online galleries and links. Fast literature, street ephemera (posters, advertising, playbills, ballads and broadsides), penny fiction, cartoons, Tallis’ Street Views, chapbooks, Old London Street Cries, Swell’s guides to London prostitution, gambling and drinking dens, tourist guides, and topography, manuscripts of George Gissing.
- Macmillan Cabinet Papers
Cabinet conclusions (minutes) and memoranda of Harold Macmillan’s government, plus selected minutes and memoranda of policy committees. Casts new light on Britain's relationship with the EEC, Anglo-American ties, the Cold War, Decolonization, and issues of Public and Political Morality.
- Market Research and American Business Reports
Market research reports by consumer analyst Ernest Dichter and his Institute for Motivational Research, commissioned by advertising agencies and businesses such as Philip Morris, Chrysler, and CBS on products ranging from tobacco and broadcasting to cars and hotels.
- Mass Observation Online
Manuscripts from the Mass Observation project which studied the lives of ordinary people in Britain from 1937 into the early 1960s. Provides valuable information about Britain before, during, and after World War II, and about changes in attitudes to many topics in social and economic life.
- Mass Observation Project
Narrative responses from approximately 1,300 informants document the social history of Britain. Questionnaires explored topics of current interest during the 1980s and 1990s including popular attitudes about the events in the Royal family's marriage and divorce - as well as on everyday life, family, the home, leisure, and food.
- Medical Services and Warfare
Explore multiple perspectives on the history of injury, treatment, and disease on the front line. Chart scientific advances through hospital records, medical reports, and first-hand accounts, and discover the evidence of how war shaped medical practice across the centuries.
- Medieval Family Life
Letter correspondence of five 15th century English families describing everyday life including discussions of advantageous marriages and inheritance, estate management, women and their role within the family, arguments between parents and children, births, deaths, politics, and community.
- Medieval Travel Writing
Accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China tell us much about the attitudes and preconceptions of people across Europe in the medieval period, shedding light on issues of race, economics, trade, militarism, politics, literature, and science.
- Meiji Japan: The Edward Sylvester Morse Collection from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem
Personal and professional papers of Edward Sylvester Morse, one of the first Americans to live in Japan. Provides insight into the culture and society of Japan before it was transformed by Western modernization.
- Mergent Online
Corporate financial histories (including capital changes) and operational histories for international public companies. Customizable reports on companies.
- Migration to New Worlds
Set against a backdrop of colonial expansion, industrial progress, and global conflict; diaries, correspondence, photographs, shipping logs, and oral histories tell the stories of individuals and families who risked everything to build new lives in North America and Australasia.
- Nineteenth Century Literary Society: the John Murray Publishing Archive
Primary source documents from the archive of the historic John Murray literary publishing company. Author correspondence, advertisements, financial papers, and drafts of seminal works document the golden era of the House of Murray from its inception in 1768.
- Nixon Years
Complete UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 7 and 82 files for the entire period of Richard Nixon's presidency.
- Perdita Manuscripts
Digitized manuscripts from the Perdita Project, which aims to rediscover lost manuscripts written or compiled by women in the British Isles during the 16th and 17th centuries. Contents include account books, advice, culinary writing, meditation, travel writing, and verse.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975
Explores the dynamic period of social, political, and cultural change in the U.S. and U.K., covering such topics as music and television, the Vietnam war, student protests, the civil rights movement, and women's liberation. Includes the Social Protest Collection from UC Berkeley, a wide range of zines and alternative press publications, posters, and multimedia.
- Popular Medicine in America
Books, pamphlets, trade cards, and advertising ephemera showing popular remedies and treatments in nineteenth century America, aimed at the general public rather than medical professionals.
- Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain
Discover what life was like for the poorest communities in Victorian Britain, and explore the government policy, social reform movements, and philanthropic efforts of charitable institutions that sought to alleviate poverty.
- Project MUSE Key Database
Digital humanities and social science scholarly journals from university presses and scholarly societies.
- PubMed Central (PMC)
Freely available journal literature in the life sciences from the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Library of Medicine.
- Race Relations in America
Speeches, reports, surveys, and analyses produced by the Race Relations Department of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries based at Fisk University.
- Revised Common Lectionary
Ecumenical lectionary system developed by the North American Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) and the International English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC). Based on the Roman Lectionary, Ordo Lectionum Missae.
- RKMA Market Research Reports
Guides for researching consumer markets, including market assessments and forecasts, sector trends, profiles of market leaders, and statistics.
- Romanticism: Life, Literature, and Landscape
Verse manuscripts and correspondence of William Wordsworth and his fellow writers offer an insight into the working methods of the poet and the wider social, political, and natural environment that shaped much of his work and that of his contemporaries.
- Sage Business Cases
- Sage Knowledge Books
- Sage Knowledge Reference
Encyclopedias and handbooks in the social and behavioral sciences.
- SAGE Research Methods
Tools for every step of designing and conducting a research project such as writing a research question, gathering and analyzing data, preparing a literature review, working with teams, and publishing findings.
- Service Newspapers of World War Two
Wartime newspapers published for soldiers serving in major theatres around the world. Both Allied and Axis publications are presented, offering a broad view of the war and the experiences of those on its front lines.
- Sex & Sexuality
Correspondence, research papers, and records from the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections explores changing attitudes towards human sexuality, gender identities, and sexual behaviors.
- Shakespeare in Performance: Prompt Books from The Folger Shakespeare Library
Production scripts that include personal notes, sketches and cues for lighting and music, from set design and costume to music and acting. Researchers can follow how each individual production unfolded; see what amendments were made to the text and stage management over the years; and explore the influences and connections between different productions of the same play.
- Shakespeare's Globe Archive: Theatres, Players & Performance
Documents the performance and construction history of the new Globe and the indoor theater space of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse through prompt books, wardrobe notes, programs, publicity material, annual reports, show reports, photographs and architectural plans.
- Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice
Primary source documents on key aspects of the history of slavery. The African Coast, the Middle Passage, the varieties of slave experience, religion, revolts, abolition, and legislation. Case studies from America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Cuba.
- Socialism on Film
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
- Statista Alumni Access
Quantitative data, statistics, infographics, and related information compiled from market research institutes, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. Please note: alumni access does not include Market Insights, Consumer Insights, Company Insights, or eCommerce Insights.
- Tennessee Electronic Library (for residents of Tennessee only)
Includes Academic OneFile, Informe, business databases, national newspapers, health information, literary criticism, etc.
- Trade Catalogues and the American Home
Highly illustrated primary source materials that document the changing commercial tastes and fashions of the consumer over a period of rapid growth, expansion, and crisis, revealing contemporary prices and economic expenditure for households and individuals on a range of products.
- Travel Writing, Spectacle, and World History
Women's travel diaries and correspondence describe the travel experience and offer first hand accounts of major historical events as reported by eye witnesses, detailing key interests and themes in women’s lives, providing snapshots of cities, cultures and customs, and charting the rise of modern tourism and the travel industry.
- UniWorld
Contact information for headquarters, branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates of the multinational firms. Find U.S. corporations with operations in other countries and firms based in other countries with locations in the U.S.
- Vault (Business)
Industry and career guides, including employer profiles; advice on consulting case interviews, financial interviews, and career trends. Message boards. First-time users must register for a personal account using their vanderbilt.edu email address.
- Vault (Law)
Industry and career guides, including employer profiles; advice on consulting case interviews, financial interviews, and career trends. Message boards. First-time users must register for a personal account using their vanderbilt.edu email address.
- Victorian Popular Culture
Primary source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe. Explore the darkened halls, small backrooms, big tops, and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic, spiritualist séances, optical entertainments, and the first moving pictures.
- Virginia Company Archives
Documents the founding and economic development of Virginia covering topics such as the settlement of North America from Jamestown to the Bermudas; trade between Britain and America; the ethnic and gender composition of early Virginia; tensions among the colonists; and early relations with Native Americans.
- Women in The National Archives
Finding aid to women’s studies resources in The National Archives (UK) and original documents covering the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain and the granting of women's suffrage in colonial territories.
- World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions
Examines the innovations and phenomenon of international expositions by presenting official records, monographs, personal accounts, and ephemera for more than 200 fairs.
