The Reviewers: Tammy S. Sugarman, Instruction Coordinator/Humanities Librarian,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

RR 2004/171

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories, another high quality, primary
source database from Alexander Street Press, contains letters, diaries, pamphlets, oral histories, and
other unpublished material written or dictated by immigrants to Canada and the USA. The materials in the database cover 1840 to the present, with an emphasis on the late nineteenth to early twentieth
centuries...

The assistance of an editorial board of immigration and ethnic history scholars, advice from customers, and scholarly bibliographies were utilized to select material for inclusion in the database. The number of documents pertaining to each nationality or cultural group varies, with some groups represented more than others, as can be expected from immigration patterns during the late nineteenth century. For example, there are more sources from Eastern European immigrants than those from Northern Europe or Latin America, but an attempt has been made to include at least representative works from over 20 nationalities and cultural groups. Much of the material included has not been previously published, including oral interviews, immigration manuals and guides and personal memoirs.

The database is visually appealing, with a good amount of white space in the centre of the page and a colour coded navigation bar at the top. The navigation bar offers easy access to several different ways of finding material in the database and help pages. "Tables of contents" provide options for
determining what authors, sources, years, places and personal events are included. "Places" lists
locations where letters or diaries were written, sent, or discussed, and "Personal events" lists life
events such as acquiring citizenship or starting a job. Within each of these categories, it is simply a
matter of selecting an entry to go to a list of documents that match the entry. To search for items by
specific criteria, such as the author's race, religion, and occupation in North America or in his/her
native country, the "Find authors" tool can be used.

...

Current and ongoing interest in ethnic history and immigration studies from the perspective of the
immigrants themselves, in oral and written formats, makes this database a valuable resource for
students and scholars in the areas of history, folklore, political science, and sociology, among others.
When complete, this database will provide users access to a wealth of primary sources, many not
easily accessible or accessible at all in other formats or venues. The ability to search one or multiple
texts in varied and sophisticated ways is the reason this database will appeal to many who have used
the microform collections of the Ellis Island Oral History Project or Manuscript Autobiographies from
the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota. Alone, or in conjunction with these
other research collections in American immigration, North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories is highly recommended for all academic and research libraries.