1. Books and pamphlets. Local studies libraries normally have catalogues which list the books and pamphlets which they hold relating to a specific locality. In addition they will hold copies of the bibliographies noted in Source guide S11. Where there is no published history of a parish some detail may be found in the church guide. Unpublished surveys of all churches in Devon were made by Davidson c1840 and Cresswell c1920. Both surveys are in WSL with microfiches and extracts in other locations. County histories ( Source guide S12) and guidebooks ( Source guide S13) will have sections on many communities throughout Devon. In particular the second volume of Lysons has a descrition of every parish in alphabetical order. Extracts from Lysons are included in the WSL cuttings files. General reference works with sections relating to the Westcountry are to be found in the general library collections.

2. Directories. These survive for larger towns from 1783 onwards, often only on microfilm. From 1850 to 1939 the county directories have a separate entry for every parish in Devon giving, besides a list of residents and tradesmen, concise historical and descriptive notes. They are held in the larger local studies collections. See section 3.14 for more details.

3. Newspapers. Local studies libraries in Devon hold local newspapers in original or in microform for every year since 1737 with some coverage for the period 1715-31. Some newspapers have been indexed or cut for parish files. See Source guide S15 for fuller details. Where newspapers have been microfilmed the original copies will not be produced by libraries. There are files containing newspaper cuttings and other notes for most Devon parishes in the main local studies collections. Those in WSL have been compiled since the 1920s and have been microfilmed for other local studies collections.

4. Periodical articles are an important source for detailed studies of a locality. The Transactions of the Devonshire Association has cumulated indexes to the first 100 volumes and other periodicals also have cumulated indexes or indexes to individual volumes. A computer database of periodical articles can be consulted in the larger local studies libraries. For periodicals see Source guide S16 and for indexes see Source guide S11.

5 Official publications. Government reports and returns often include sections relating to individual localities. Full indexes of sessional papers are available in the Exeter Reference Library and Exeter University Library. Larger libraries have collections of local acts of Parliament, which are partially listed in the Devon Union List under the heading Local Acts. A selection of House of Commons and Command Papers is held in the larger local studies collections, including census tables, Charity Commissioners Reports, and the 1873 return of owners of land. Local government publications are especially useful for the period since World War 2. A good range is held in the main local studies collections, but they are a complex form of publication and it is difficult to locate information on specific communities. They are normally listed under the issuing body (county, district or town council). Library hold sets of council minutes, sometimes only since the reorganization of 1974. Fuller sets of earlier council minutes are available in Devon record Office. For more information on official publications see Source guide S17.

6 Archives. National archive publications, particularly the calendars of patent rolls and state papers domestic, contain many local references, as do the reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission (see Source guide S35). The Burnet Morris Index covers many but not all of the PRO and HMC publications, collections of which can be found in the Exeter Reference Library and Exeter University Library. The DRO has extensive collections of local archives for the county. Many categories of records can contain information on a parish apart from the parish collections themselves, which are detailed in Source guide S31.

7. Inhabitant lists form the raw material for a wide range of demographic and social studies. Local studies libraries have the census enumerators' on microfilm for 1841-1881 and on microfiche for 1891 (see Source guide S34). Other inhabitant lists include transcripts of parish registers (1538-1837 - see Source guide S31), protestation returns (1641), muster rolls (especially 1569) and tax and rate assessments. There are fuller details in section 4.3 on sources for family history.

8. Maps. See Source guide S22 for more detail. These are invaluable for showing the layout of the community in earlier times but it is not normally possible to obtain detailed maps earlier than 1765. Besides street plans of the larger towns and early engraved county maps there is good coverage of Devon at a scale of 1:63,360 (one inch to one mile) or larger as follows:

Tithe apportionment surveys, mostly dating from about 1840 and other plans are deposited in the Devon Record Office.

9. Illustrations. Few local illustrations are found for the period before about 1775. Original illustrations can be difficult to locate and retrieve, so prior enquiry is advisable. See Source guide S21 for fuller details.