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HIST 3301:Reading And Writing Like a Historian Research Guide

Digitized Primary Source Collections

Finding Primary Source Books in our Catalog

Books are for the most part considered secondary sources, but they can sometimes be considered a primary source.

Examples of primary books could include autobiographies, diaries or books that compile primary source materials. To find these books, include the following keywords into the search box, or in the subject field when using the advanced search option:

  • sources, 
  • personal narratives,
  • diaries or journals, 
  • interviews ,or 
  • correspondence 

For example, I could enter the terms African Americans History Sources into the Library Catalog search box to find books that contain primary documents that relate to African American History.

** To find additional primary sources, look at the citations and bibliography in the books you have already found to see what primary sources the authors used. 

Search Strategies-Primary Sources

Identify your subject and gather background information. The more you know about key events, people, laws, and especially common terminology used during the time period you are researching the more successful your research will be. You can use encyclopedias, introductory books, museum websites, and/or other credible websites to do this.

Try to answer the following questions:

Who: names of significant people, movements, or organizations

When: beginning and ending dates for individuals or events

Where: watch for place name changes in the past

What: Significance of subject can affect how many records from the past still exist

More info: watch for further references or citations to find additional information

For example, if the topic is "experience of Union soldiers in the US Civil War" you might have the following answers:

Who: President Lincoln, General Grant, General Sherman, Grand Army of the Republic (veterans' organization)

When: 1861-1865 are the dates of the war itself. Soldiers might have served more or less time.

Where: United States; Battle of Gettysburg; Sherman's March to the Sea; prisoner of war camp

What: the Civil War soldiers suffered a huge mortality and injury rate, and witnessed terrible carnage 

More info: Trudeau, Noah Andre. 1998. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865. Edison, NJ: Castle Books. 

Notice that by the end of the list of examples, the topic is narrowed to the experiences of African American soldiers. Background information can guide you to a more focused topic

 

Search for background information using the resources below:

What types of primary sources can I use for my research?

Think about the types of records or documents that would have been created at the time period surrounding events and issues related to your topic. These are the sort of things you'll have to look for.

Here are some guiding questions (primary sources appear in parentheses): 

  • What was life/society like at the time?  (magazines, chronicles, newspapers, artworks)
  • What were the experience, beliefs, or priorities of relevant individuals / groups / organizations at the time? (autobiographies, interviews, diaries, letters, advertisements, manifestos)
  • What was the government attitude? What was the government of the day saying? (proclamations, monuments, records of debates, legislation, law codes)
  • How many people were involved in or affected by this issue / event? (statistics, official records, estimates based on material culture or remains)
  • What were people being told, what did they communicate? (newspapers, artworks, photographs, letters, secret communications)
  • What did things look like? (artwork, photographs, guide books for tourists, illustrations, postcards)

When searching digital collections keep the following search techniques in mind.

Limit to specific time periods: When searching for primary sources online always remember to use date ranges (usually on the advanced search page) to focus your search.

  • Depending on the time period, remember that it took time for news to get reported or to spread to other parts of the country. It often helps to include a few weeks after an event to ensure you get results.
  • Start with broader search times but limit to a narrow time period. For example: if searching for articles about the Massacre at Wounded Knee, search for: "wounded knee" limit to the date range of 12/29/1890-1/12/1891 (the word massacre may not have been used immediately after the event, but the location)

Use primary source keywords to find primary sources:  Use search terms that reflect the types of primary sources you’re looking for, such as: diaries, pamphlets, correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, personal narratives, interviews, firsthand, eyewitness, sources, etc. Or, some databases allow you to filter by primary source type.

For example: slave AND diary  |  suffrage AND pamphlets  |  united states and race relations AND sources

 

Where can I find these Primary Sources?

You can find primary sources in archives and special collections, but you can also find digitized materials freely available online and published in books. Some digital collections contain multiple types of primary sources while others contain one type. Make sure you understand what the collection contains before you start searching.

University Library

  • Look at the History Research Guides, Primary Source tab: These pages contains links to several collections that contain digitized primary sources on a variety of topics. They contain links to primary source databases that the library pays for and freely available collections online. These tabs just provide a sample of the primary sources that are available to you.
  • Check out the Databases by Type, Primary Sources Page: On the library's website, click on the Primary Sources link under Databases by type to see all of the primary source collections the library subscribes to. 
  • Search the library catalog for published primary sources: Use search terms that reflect the types of primary sources you’re looking for, such as: diaries, pamphlets, correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, personal narratives, interviews, firsthand, eyewitness, sources, etc. with other keywords   For example: slave AND diary

On the Web

You can find additional digital collections on a variety of subjects online by conducting a Google search but make sure its coming from a credible source.

  • Consult major collections of primary sources (national and local level): Examples include the Library of Congress, National Archives Texas Digital Archives, and Portal to Texas History
  • Limit your search to more credible domains such as educational (.edu) government (.gov), and non-commercial organizations (.org) websites  ex. A search of  "emancipation proclamation”:.gov will show any government websites first on your results list that have that phrase on their pages.
  • Go directly to a the organizations (archive/museums) website where the print object might be housed. They may have digitized the object.

Research Centers and Archives

Keep in mind a lot of items have not been digitized, so you may have to physically visit these archives in order to view the document/artifact. You will need to make an appointment to do so.

  • If you are trying to track down primary source items that pertain to local or state history, check out the Research Centers and Archives tab on the History Research Guide. Listed are various archives in the areas with their collection strengths
  • Look at the Archival Finding Aids: Finding Aids are descriptive inventories of archival collections that help users find relevant materials. These can be very detailed or if the collection has been only marginally processed, can be very bare bones. It is important to remember that when searching for primary sources in the physical archive that you are not searching for their full text as you are when searching many other online sources. It sometimes helps to do broad searchers for general topics or names, places.