Introduction to Primary Sources
What are Primary Sources?
"Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research." This definition come from the American Library Association's site: Using Primary Sources on the Web . This is a great site to check to help you evaluate whether the information you find is a primary or a secondary source.
Interactive Exercises Online
Explore the online exercises below to learn more about primary sources and analyzing historic evidence...
- Tools for Analyzing Primary Sourcesvia EDSITEment! The Best Humanities on the Web
- Tutorial: How to Read Primary Sourcesvia Greenwoods Skills Center online
- Teaching: Bring History to Life for Your Studentsvia the National Archives Experience, DocsTeach
- Making Sense of Evidencevia History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web
Searching for Primary Sources in the Catalog
When searching for primary sources in the Library Catalog, one good trick is to add the term Sources to the search
Thus: Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Websites
- UH - Digital HistoryProvides learning and teaching resources from online textbook, primary sources, ethnic voices to special topics and reference materials on all periods of United States History.
- Harvard University Library: Open Collections Program: HomeThe Open Collections provide online access to historical resources from Harvard's renowned libraries, archives, and museums. Three open collections have been launched since 2004: Women Working, 1800-1930, Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, and Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics.
- History MattersA highly regarded gateway to web resources as well as a repository of unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence for students and teachers of American history.
- Repositories of Primary SourcesA listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar.
- Digital and Multimedia Center - Michigan State UniversityThe Digital and Multimedia Center makes special items from the library available online. Includes American Radicalism, Sunday School Books, Cookbooks, Comic Art and more
- Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback MachineThe Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Includes a great deal of primary source information - but YOU must make the decision if it is or not. Includes the Prelinger Archives, Television Archives and much more.
- Calisphere - A World of Digital ResourcesCalisphere is the University of California's free public gateway to a world of primary sources. More than 200,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.
