Library DIY

What are primary sources?

A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources provide the original materials on which other research is based and enable students and other researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during a particular event or time period. Published materials are considered primary resources if they come from the time period that is being discussed, or were written or produced by someone with firsthand experience of the event. Often primary sources reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources can be written or non-written (sound, pictures, artifacts, etc.). In scientific research, primary sources are defined differently.  The sciences classify articles that report on discoveries or new research findings as "primary sources."

This page focuses on primary sources for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the humanities and social sciences, primary sources are the direct evidence or first-hand accounts of events without secondary analysis or interpretation. A primary source is a work that was created or written contemporary with the period or subject being studied. Secondary sources analyze or interpret historical events or creative works.

The boxes below describe resources and strategies for finding historical primary sources.

Examples of primary sources

• Autobiographies and memoirs
• Diaries, personal letters, and correspondence
• Interviews, surveys, and fieldwork
• Internet communications on email, blogs, listservs, and newsgroups
• Photographs, drawings, and posters
• Works of art and literature
• Books, magazine and newspaper articles and ads published at the time
• Public opinion polls
• Speeches and oral histories
• Original documents (birth certificates, property deeds, trial transcripts)
• Research data, such as census statistics
• Official and unofficial records of organizations and government agencies
• Artifacts of all kinds, such as tools, coins, clothing, furniture, etc.
• Audio recordings, DVDs, and video recordings
• Government documents (reports, bills, proclamations, hearings, etc.)
• Patents
• Technical reports
• Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results

Other types of information may also be primary sources if they are analyzed for their historical or cultural significance.

Search the Library Catalog

The Library catalog includes primary sources that are available in print and online. If you're looking for a specific item, just do a basic search with the title in quotes. You may also search by author.

If you retrieve many results, you may wish to include a search term that describes a specific kind of primary source, such as “holocaust and diaries”. Try one or more of the following descriptive words: documents, personal narratives, autobiography, memoir, correspondence, letters, diary, interview, speeches, oral history. Use the Advanced Search to limit by collection (e.g.,streaming video, ebook), publication year, author, or subject. (Subjects can be especially helpful for narrowing a search by topic or by document type (e.g., correspondence, autobiography, letters).

Below are some recommended catalog search terms for locating primary sources. 

• Any kind of primary source: sources or documents (examples: medieval sources, civil war documents, papal sources)
• Personal accounts, autobiographies, or memoirs: personal narratives or autobiography or memoir  (examples: Pearl Harbor and  personal narratives, battle of the bulge and memoir, autobiography and world war II)
• Letters: correspondence or letters (examples: Civil War and correspondence, French Revolution and letters)
• Diaries: diary (examples: Civil War and diary, woman and diary and France)
• Oral history:interview or oral history or speeches (examples: Cold War and interview, Japanese internment and oral history, Malcolm X and speeches)
• Photographs or artwork: pictorial works (examples: Chicago and pictorial works, World's Fair and pictorial works)

Try these words in a general keyword search, or to narrow your results, limit the search to "subject."

Useful primary source databases

Many databases contain primary source materials. However, just because a database contains primary sources does not mean that all the resources available in that database are primary sources. Most also contain secondary sources. 

Some databases, such as Opposing Viewpoints in Context, will allow you to select Primary Source as a document type when searching. WorldCat (the online catalogs of 10,000+ libraries worldwide) is another good place to look. From the main search page (the Advanced Search page), type your keyword(s) into the search box, then go to the "Limit type to" options and choose Archival Material before selecting Search.

Here is a list of databases that we consider "best bets" for primary sources. 

Government documents

Government documents that serve as artifacts of an historical event or time are primary sources. Below are several key resources for government information.

• America's Founding Documents: Explore the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights at this National Archives webpage.
• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications:Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full electronic documents, when available.
• Govinfo:Online database that provides free access to official publications from all three branches of the United States government.
• United States Government Manual:Official handbook provided by the federal government on the agencies of the three branches of government
• USA.gov:The official web portal of the United States Government

Thanks to a number of major digitization initiatives, MANY published sources (books, journals, etc.) are now freely available via digital web repositories. Most of these materials are in the public domain - i.e. not copyright-protected.  For the U.S. this means titles published prior to 1922; copyright "cutoff" dates vary for other countries.  Googling by title or author will likely retrieve materials in these digital repositories, but you can also search their contents individually.  Notable examples:

• DIgital Public Library of America (DPLA):Extensive collection of digital materials made available through libraries across the U.S.
• HathiTrust Digital Library: Extensive collection of digital materials available through research libraries around the world.
• Project Gutenberg: Over 50,000 free e-books, many of literary and historical significance.
• Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts: Public domain and open access documents with a focus on American and English literature and on Western philosophy.

• Google Books: Look for resources with publication dates before 1923 and with a Read Preview link. The Advanced Book Search allows you to limit to Full view only books.