Introducing online resources

There are three main types of web resources: open access (which you can find through search engines such as Google), closed access (accessed through individual paid subscriptions, or by logging in with a library or college/university alumni card), and portals (these may be open or closed access, and can show you, for instance, how to use physical resources like library collections, or give you access to journals in a specific subject area).

Open access websites run by government and educational bodies, galleries, museums, and professional institutions, give access to a huge amount of eighteenth-century material, including primary sources (manuscripts) and primary printed sources (e.g. eighteenth-century books, engravings, or advertising cards). An increasing amount of academic research is also open access—like the Andrew Millar project, many university research projects share their findings with the public on their own websites.

Closed access websites act as hubs for dozens of academic journals; public libraries will tell you which sites they have subscriptions to, and may be able to add a particular journal to their subscriptions. If you can’t access a journal this way, it’s worth contacting the publisher’s website to ask if they offer a free trial.

Library portals are an important way of finding out what physical resources you can access in archives throughout Britain.

Dr Adam Budd explains how Module 1 will teach you the skills to make the best use of these resources.