Historical Abstracts is a database that indexes scholarly articles, and some books and book chapters, in the discipline of History (excluding the U.S. and Canada) starting in 1450.  A key feature of Historical Abstracts is a searching option where you can limit to the time period you are researching. Most databases only have search features for when the article was published.  Historical Abstracts is not a full text database.  It searches citations and abstracts.  This is also a helpful feature.  If Vassar doesn't subscribe to an article you want to read, or own a book you find in Historical Abstracts, you can use our extensive InterLibrary Loan services through ILLIad.  ILLiad requires you to make an account.  Once created, you can use ILLiad your entire time at Vassar.