A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.
They may take the form of art, literature (poetry,fiction, plays, etc.), diaries, letters, autobiographies, photographs, interviews, archived newspaper articles, government documents, sound recordings, maps, etc.
Please see the Primary Research Guide for more examples and information.
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Has detailed indexing for over 100,000 stories from more than 4,000 collections and anthologies with full text and author indexing for over 5,000 short stories.
This link opens in a new windowConsists of over 31,000 plays and over 600 monologues covering contemporary plays from 1949 to present as well as modern interpretations, editions, and translations of classical and historical plays.
This link opens in a new windowSearch over 155,000 books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides, and more published in the UK and elsewhere during the 18th century. Works are primarily in English, but works in other languages are also included.
Devoted to forging links between the material archive of the eighteenth century and the digital research environment of the twenty-first. Includes Early English Books Online (EEBO) and Eighteenth Century Collections Online (EECO).
This link opens in a new windowA scholarly organization devoted to forging links between the material archive of the nineteenth century and the digital research environment of the twenty-first. Includes British and American works from the long 19th-century, 1770-1920.
This link opens in a new windowThroughout the 19th century, pamphlets were an important means of public debate, covering the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day. 19th Century British Pamphlets, created by Research Libraries UK (RLUK), contains the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in research libraries in the United Kingdom.
This link opens in a new windowAn essential collection of poetry which surveys the movements, schools and distinctive voices of modern and contemporary American poetry. Combines Twentieth-Century American Poetry and Twentieth-Century African American Poetry.
This link opens in a new windowIncorporates the works of 285 of the most widely studied poets of the British Isles and beyond. Many of the major themes of 20th century writing – nationality, politics, war, sexuality, religion and gender – can be understood anew through this collection.
This link opens in a new windowExplore a stunning collection of rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reveals the socio-cultural history of these times. Showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature, from mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated ‘book-beautifuls’, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.
This link opens in a new windowAn archival research resource comprising the backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines. Issues are scanned in high-resolution color and feature detailed article-level indexing. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period. Among the research fields served by this material are gender studies, social history, economics/marketing, media, fashion, politics, and popular culture.