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Primary Sources
What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is usually a record made at the time of an event by participants or by firsthand observers. Examples include, but are not limited to, contemporary newspaper or magazine accounts, diaries, correspondence, parliamentary proceedings, government reports, government/organizational archives, and manuscripts. Sometimes these records are reprinted much later than the time at which they were written, but they are still primary sources.
Primary sources can be very different for different subjects. If you are writing a paper about an early female physician, for example, then her diary would be a primary source. If you are studying mid-twentieth century diplomatic history between the United States and Iraq, the State Department records (such as Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files: Iraq, 1955-1959, available on Microfilm 498) would be a primary source. If you are unsure what constitutes a primary source for your topic, ask your instructor for some ideas.
How Do I Find Primary Source Material?
Try searching databases that are relevant to your subject area. Many of these databases will lead you to the writings of people from earlier time periods. Databases that contain references to (or the full text of) primary source material include:
Books, Pamphlets, Etc.
America's Historical Imprints
Full text of books from Early American Imprints,
the Evans Series (1639-1800), the Shaw-Shoemaker Series (1801-1819), and full
text of broadsides, 1820-1900, (large sheets of paper usually printed on one
side), and ephemera,1760-1900 (things like invitations, lottery announcements,
menus, stock certificates, etc.) from American Broadsides and Ephemera.
ATLA Historical
Monographs Collection
Full text of titles focused on religion and theology, in English and other
languages, 13th century-1923.
Early English Books Online
(EEBO)
Full text of English-language books published in Great Britain or British North
America, 1473-1700.
Early European Books
Full text of all works printed in Europe before 1701, regardless of language,
together with all pre-1701 works in European languages printed further afield.
Eighteenth Century
Collections Online (ECCO)
Full text of English-language and foreign-language books published in the UK
between 1701-1800.
English
Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)
Catalog of books published in English, 1475-1800. Full text often available in
EEBO, ECCO, described above.
Magazines and Journals
American Antiquarian
Society Historical Periodicals Collection
Full text of American magazines and journals, 1691-1852.
American Periodicals Series
Full text of
American magazines and journals, 1740-1941.
British Periodicals
Full text of British
magazines and journals, 1600s-1900s.
Eighteenth Century
Journals
Full text of British magazines and newspapers, ca. 1685-1815.
Godey's Lady's Book
Full text of the women's periodical, 1830- 1898.
HarpWeek
Full text of Harper's Weekly magazine, 1857-1912.
Humanities & Social
Sciences Index Retrospective
References to journal and magazine articles published in North America and
Europe, 1907-1984.
Nineteenth Century
Masterfile
References to journal and magazine articles published in America and Great
Britain, 1786-1925.
Nineteenth Century UK
Periodicals
Full text of British periodicals.
Opinion Archives
Full text of The American Spectator (1967-present), Commentary
(1945-present), Commonweal (1924-present), Dissent (1954
-present), Harpers Magazine (1850-present), NACLA (North American
Congress on Latin America) Report on the Americas (1966-present),
National Review (1955-present), The New Republic (1914-present),
and The New Yorker (1925-present). References, but not full text, to other
periodicals also available.
Readers' Guide Retrospective
References to magazines and journals published in the U.S.,
1890-1982.
Wellesley Index to
Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900
Index, with some full text,
that identifies the authors of articles within major Victorian periodicals.
Forty-five monthly and quarterly titles are included.
Newspapers
African Newspapers
Full text of more than 40 nineteenth and twentieth century African
newspapers.
African American
Newspapers: The 19th Century
Full text of newspapers such as Freedom's Journal, Frederick Douglass
Paper, and The Christian Recorder.
America's Historical
Newspapers
Full text of historic newspapers, 1690-1922.
Atlanta Daily World
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the African-American newspaper, 1931-2003.
British Newspapers
Full text of British newspapers, 1600-1900. Includes Seventeenth-Eighteenth
Century Burney Collection Newspapers and Nineteenth Century British
Library Newspapers.
Chicago Defender
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the
African-American newspaper, 1910-1975.
Chicago Tribune Historical
Newspaper
Full text of the Chicago Tribune, 1849-1987.
Eighteenth Century
Journals
Full text of British magazines and newspapers, ca. 1685-1815.
Guardian and Observer
Historical Newspapers
Full text of the British newspapers, Guardian,
1821-2003, and Observer, 1791-2003.
Latin American Newspapers
Full text of Latin American Newspapers,
19th and 20th centuries.
LexisNexis Academic
Full text of articles
from U.S. and world newspapers and magazines; dates vary: typically
1980s-present.
Los Angeles Sentinel
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the African-American newspaper, 1934-2005.
Los Angeles Times
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the Los Angeles Times, 1881-1987.
New York Amsterdam News
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the African-American newspaper, 1922-1993.
New York Times Historical Newspaper
Full text of the New York Times,
1851-2007.
Nineteenth Century U.S.
Newspapers
Full text of American newspapers from the 1800s.
Norfolk Journal and
Guide
Full text of the African-American
newspaper, 1921-2003.
Oklahoman Archives
Full text of The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman,
newspaper, Sept. 1901-present.
Pittsburgh Courier Historical Newspaper
Full text of the African-American newspaper, 1911-2002.
South Asia Newspapers
Full text of newspapers from India, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka published between 1864-1922.
Times Digital Archive
Full text of the London Times newspaper, 1785-1985.
Does NOT include the Sunday edition.
Wall Street Journal
Historical Newspaper
Full text of the Wall Street Journal,
1889-1993.
Washington Post Historical
Newspaper
Full text of the Washington Post, 1877-1994.
CQ
Historic Document Series
Full text of primary sources covering significant events of
each year, 1972-present.
Congressional
Publications
Formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional.
Full text of the
Serial Set and American State Papers, full text of much of the
Congressional Record, and references to legislative information.
Declassified Documents
Reference System (DDRS)
Full text of previously classified U.S. government documents; ca. 1905-present.
Public Documents Masterfile
References to federal, state, local and international public documents,
1789-present.
Miscellaneous / Combination of Sources
American Founding
Era Collection
Includes papers of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, James Madison,
George Washington, and the series Documentary History of the Ratification of the
Constitution.
America's Historical
Imprints
Full text of books from Early American Imprints, the
Evans Series (1639-1800), the Shaw-Shoemaker Series (1801-1819), and full text
of broadsides, 1820-1900, (large sheets of paper usually printed on one side),
and ephemera,1760-1900 (things like invitations, lottery announcements, menus,
stock certificates, etc.) from American Broadsides and
Ephemera.
American History and Culture Online, Sabin Americana, 1500-1926
Full text of
works about the Americas published in America and Europe.
American West
Full text of manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material related to the American
west, 1722-1939.
Black Freedom
Struggle in the 20th Century
Digital reproductions of organizational and personal papers and federal
government records, including the papers of Mary McLeod Bethune and Claude A.
Barnett, records of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, government records on
African-Americans in the military, black workers in the era of the Great
Migration, files on surveillance of African-Americans, and FBI Files.
British Literary
Manuscripts Online, c. 1100-1900
Full text of two digital collections, British
Literary Manuscripts Online, c. 1660-1900 and British
Literary Manuscripts Online: Medieval and Renaissance.
The first collection contains complete facsimile copies of author manuscripts
including poems, plays, and novels, diaries and letters, as well as drawings and
handwritten drafts. The second offers access to 565,000 pages of rare
manuscripts from the medieval and early modern periods, including letters,
poems, stories, plays, chronicles, religious writings and commonplace books
through searchable catalogue records.
Colonial State Papers
Full text of "CO 1" from the British
National Archives: Privy Council and Related Bodies: America and West Indies
and bibliographic information with extracts from Calendar of State Papers,
Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739. 16th-18th centuries.
Early Encounters in North
America
Full text of letters, diaries, memoirs,
and accounts of early encounters with Native Americans; dates vary.
Foreign Broadcast
Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports
Full text of U.S. government translations of foreign broadcasts,
publications, and government statements, 1950-1996.
Hein Online
Full text of legal documents including English Reports, Full Reprint,
1220-1867; Foreign Relations of the United States; World
Trials Library; U.S. Presidential Library - including Messages
and Papers of the Presidents, Public Papers of the Presidents, etc.
Making of
Modern Law
Full text of more than 22,000
Anglo-American works from casebooks, local practice manuals, form books, works
for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, etc.; 1800-1926.
Making of the Modern World: The Goldsmiths'-Kress Collection of Economic
Literature 1450-1850
Full text of more than 61,000 books and 466 serials.
North
American Indian Thought and Culture
Includes full text of Doris Duke Indian Oral History
project (1967-1972), also available here:
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/duke/.
North American Women's
Letters and Diaries
Full text, 1675-2002.
Overland Journeys:
Travels in the West, 1800-1880
Full text of selections from the
bibliographies, The Plains and
Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the
American West, 1800-1865 in the American West, 1800-1865 and The Trail West: A
Bibliography-Index to Western.
State Papers Online, The
Government of Britain, 1509-1714
Full text of British government materials, including State Papers,
Domestic and Foreign.
Women and Social Movements
in the United States
Full text of reports and other documents, 1600-2000.
Most of the primary source materials that the library has are labeled with special subject headings in the e labeled with special subject headings in the in the catalog. The following are the most common subject headings given to primary source material. To find these materials, use one or more of the terms as keywords to search the catalog, along with the term(s) used to describe your topic.
There is a significant collection of primary source material reproduced on microfilm or microfiche (located in the Microforms Area of the Current Periodicals Room, Lower Level 1, West). Guides to some of the collections are in book cases near the microfilm cabinets. See http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/S/Laurie.L.Scrivener-1/microforms.htm to browse a list of some of these materials, or search the catalog for a specific collection.
There are also many printed volumes that reproduce primary sources. See http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/S/Laurie.L.Scrivener-1/print.htm to browse a list of these materials, or search the catalog for a specific title.The University of Oklahoma Libraries has several special collections that have primary source materials:
The University of Oklahoma Libraries also has several digital collections available; see http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/. The site includes materials from the Western History Collections: Doris Duke Collection of American Indian Oral History; Indian-Pioneer Papers Collection, etc.; History of Science Collections; as well as material on the University of Oklahoma's history, including minutes of the University's Board of Regents' meetings, and Sooner Magazine.
If you want to see what archival and manuscript materials other institutions hold, search Archive Finder and ArchiveGrid. Archive Finder is a directory of repositories and collections of primary source material across the United States and the United Kingdom; it includes the entire National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). ArchiveGrid contains descriptions of collections from thousands of libraries, museums, and archives worldwide.
Many libraries and other institutions have digitized resources on the internet. See http://libraries.ou.edu/eresources/guides/?id=60 and click on "internet" for a directory of such resources. Also see the database OAIster which provides access to a union catalog of more than 23 million digital resources including: digitized books and articles, born digital texts, audio files, images, movies, and datasets.
Finally, don't forget to check the bibliographies of the secondary sources that you find!
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Laurie Scrivener (Email: lscrivener at OU dot edu) Associate Professor of Bibliography History and Area Studies Reference Librarian 8-13-03, updated 8-3-11 |
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