Library

Library Catalogs

Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Books, videos, government documents, etc. in Bowdoin's library.

NExpress
A combined catalog containing the library holdings of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Wellesley, Williams, Middlebury, and Northeastern. Requests take 2-3 days.

MaineCat
Includes the holdings of most Maine libraries. Requests take 2-5 days

WorldCat
A combined database of many library catalogs worldwide. Request items found in WorldCat through our Interlibrary Loan service.

Indexes and Databases

Index to New England Periodicals, 1977-1982
Main Per

Index to Portland Newspapers, 1785-1835 (The Jordan Index)
Main Ref F27 .P9 J7

Portland Room, Portland Public Library
The Maine News Index begins in 1945 and covers 12 Maine newspapers and magazines; Pre-online coverage may be consulted at Portland Public Library.
1980s-present is online.

Maine Times Cumulative Index, 1968-1973, Main Micro Index
Maine Times Index, 1973-1994, Main Micro Index
Maine News Index, 1993-2002 (Online from Portland Public Library)
The Maine Times was a pioneering alternative weekly with a focus on the environment, politics and social issues.

Academic Search Premier
Online-date coverage varies.
A multi-disciplinary database of over 4,500 English language journals. Indexed periodicals are a mix of scholarly and general interest publications. About 60% fulltext.

Reader's Guide Retrospective
Online-1890 to present
Main Per Index-1900 to 2003
The Reader's Guide is an author/subject index to a broad range of U.S. general interest periodicals. Many of these periodicals are held in Bowdoin's collections.

America History and Life
Online-1964 to present
This source indexes scholarly articles, books and dissertations about the history of the United States and Canada published throughout the world. It is a subject index which provides citations and abstracts for the works indexed.

U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Digitized : 1817 - 1980 (when complete)
Gov Docs Y1.1/2: (Print volumes)
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is comprised of thousands of sequentially numbered volumes containing congressionally-produced reports and documents. In the 19th century, many executive agency documents were published in the Serial Set as well, making it an extraordinarily rich source of primary documents for American History and culture.

Archives of the Legislature of Maine : legislative index series 1820-1825
Govt Doc Maine A70.22 820-825

Archives of the Legislature of Maine : legislative index series 1825-1830
Govt Doc Maine A70.22 825-830

Reference Sources

A guide to the study of Maine local history
Main Ref Z1291 .N93

Index of economic material in documents of the states of the United States: Maine, 1820-1904
Main Ref Z1291 .H25

Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast
Main Ref F19 .M39 1982

The Indians of Maine : a bibliographic guide
Main Ref Z1209.2.M2 I5 1994

Lands and forests research sources
Maine A 70.8 L 2/981

Maine: A Bibliography of its History
Main Ref Z1291 .C65 1977

Maine during the Colonial Period; a Bibliographical Guide
Main Ref Z1291 .C55

Maine's historical records : a guide to collections of original, unpublished materials
Main Ref CD3274 .M34 1992
Govt Doc Maine A 79.5: H 5/1992

New England Diaries
Main Ref Z1251.E1 F6 1967

New England in U.S. Government Publications: an annotated Bibliography
Main Ref Z1251.E1 C58 1998

Maine Register
Main Libr JK2831

Maine during the Federal and Jeffersonian Period: a Bibliographical Guide
Main Ref Z1291 .B38

Reference List of Manuscripts Relating to the History of Maine
Main Ref Z1291 .M27 1938a

For the three categories below, do a subject search of the library catalog under the town or family name:

Maine Town Directories
Maine Town Histories
Maine Family Histories

Newspapers and Journals

Abridged List of Maine Newspapers at Bowdoin with Holdings

All Maine Newspaper Titles held at Bowdoin (from Maine Newspaper Project)

Bowdoin Holdings of Maine periodicals with significant runs:

The Brunswick Telegraph 1853-1903
The Brunswick Record 1902-1966
The Times Record 1967-
Main Micro

Bangor Daily News, 1904,1940-54,1958,1972,1974,1978,1997-present
Main Micro

Portland Press Herald and Sunday Telegram 1954-
Main Micro

Down East 1954-present
Main Periodical

Industrial Journal (Bangor, ME) 1899-1915
Main Periodical

Maine Times 1968-2002
Main Micro

Maine History 1994-
Main Per

Maine Historical Society Quarterly 1974-1993
Main Per

Maine Townsman 1939-
Main Per

America's Historical Newspapers, Series I (1690-1922 ):

Maine Papers:
American Advocate: 1809-1820 (Hallowell) (662 issues)
Cumberland Gazette: 1786-1791 (Portland) (347 issues)
Eagle: 1809-1812 (Castine) (118 issues)
Eagle of Maine: 1802 (Kennebunk) (6 issues)
Eastern Argus: 1803-1871 (Portland) (3017 issues)
Eastern Herald: 1792-1802 (Portland) (349 issues)
Falmouth Gazette: 1785-1786 (91 issues)
Freeman's Friend: 1807-1810 ( Portland) (200 issues)
Freeman's Friend: 1805-1807 ( Salem) (140 issues)
Gazette: 1798-1816 (Portland) (1420 issues)
Hancock Gazette: 1820 (Belfast) (26 issues)
Herald of Gospel Liberty: 1810-1811 (Portland) (31 issues)
Kennebec Gazette: 1800-1805 (Augusta) (273 issues)
Lincoln Intelligencer: 1821-1822 (Cadiz) (52 issues)
Lincoln Telegraph:1821-1822 (Wiscasset) (78 issues)
Maine Gazette: 1820 (Bath) (5 issues)
Maine Intelligencer: 1820 (Brunswick) (15 issues)
Oriental Trumpet: 1796-1800 (Portland) (153 issues)
Waldo Patriot: 1837-1838 (Belfast) (53 issues)
Weekly Visitor: 1809-1810 (Kennebunk) (93)
Wiscasset Argus: 1798 (4 issues)
Wiscasset Telegraph: 1796-1799 (41 issues)

American Periodicals Series Online

America's Historical Newspapers

Making of America Journal Collection

Primary Sources

For a discussion of primary sources, please read the CBB guide to Primary and Secondary Sources.

Population Schedules of the Censuses of the United States: Cumberland County
Main Micro Film 3098
Microfilmed lists of the names of people in the census enumerations.

Reprints of the Federal Decennial Censuses 1790 -1870
Govt Index I 2.5:1/reprint
Statistics and data from the U.S. censuses.

Federal Decennial Censuses 1880-
Govt Doc Numbers vary; check indexes.
Statistics and data from the U.S. censuses.

United States Congressional Serial Set
Legislative and executive agency reports of the U.S. Congress from the 19th and 20th centuries. Search for Maine topics in this online full text database.

American Memory from Library of Congress
Digitized text, images and photographs from the Library of Congress. Search for Maine topics.

Digital Collections at the University of Maine System Libraries
Variety of digital collections, including Maine State Documents, the William S. Cohen Papers, fisheries and forestry reports.

The Maine Memory Network
Digital Maine photographs, documents and artifacts.

Maine History, Maine State Web Site
Facts, history, resources for official records, etc. from the state web site.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Maine
Main Micro Film 0991
Maps of Maine towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including businesses and residences.

Maine State Documents at Bowdoin

Maine Vital Statistics, in Maine State Documents
Govt Doc Maine H 88/15.32:
Public Documents Series
Govt Doc Maine

Maine Reporter
Govt Doc Maine J 90.28:

Public Documents Series (Maine) 1836-1940
Govt Doc Maine L40.25

Maine House Journal, 1858-1925
Govt Doc Maine L40.26/1

Maine Senate Journal, 1854-1925
Govt Doc Maine L40.26/2

Maine Legislative Record
Govt Doc Maine L40.27

Laws of Maine 1840-
Acts and resolves passed by the ... Legislature of the state of Maine

Acts, etc. (Massachusetts) 1692-1780
Acts and Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1780-1805
Main Libr KFM2425 .A213

George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives

The George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives, located on the Library's third floor, holds the papers, letters, books and manuscripts of many prominent Mainers, including the papers of former Senator Mitchell. Please see the web site http://library.bowdoin.edu/arch/ or visit in person for more detail.