Primary Sources
What
is a primary source?
A primary source is one that is contemporary to the events you are studying. Some examples include letters, diaries, photographs, maps, newspapers, magazine articles, or advertisements. |
Ø
Try doing keyword searches
including phrases such as “sources,” “documents,” “diaries,” “notebooks,”
“letters of,” or “correspondence.”
Ø The Oxy library owns several compilations of reprinted primary source materials. Some examples include:
o
Documents of American
History –
Reference, E173 .D59 1988. Newest edition located in reference, back
volumes located on the first floor, old, under the same call number.
o
Speeches of the American
Presidents
– Reference, J81 .C88 1988
o
Women’s lives in Medieval
Europe: A sourcebook – Tier 2, HQ1143 .W65
1993.
o Chinese Civilization and Society: A sourcebook – First Floor, old, DS721 .C517
Ø
To find more like those
listed above, do a keyword search that includes your search terms, plus the word
“sources.” If you don’t find
anything at first, broaden your search.
When you find material that is relevant to your topic, look at the bottom
of the citation page for LC Subject Heading links, which will give you listings
of everything the library owns under those subject headings.
Ø
If the Oxy library doesn’t
have what you are looking for, be sure to check LINK+.
Articles in newspapers,
journals, or magazines written at the same time as the events you are
researching can be used as primary sources, as can the advertisements in those
publications.
General Interest
Magazines
Popular general interest
magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, People,
Commonweal, etc, can contain good primary source material for certain
topics in 20th Century American History. Magazines such as these are indexed by
the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature back to 1905. The Reader’s
Guide is in the Reference Index Area AI3 .R48.
ProQuest Historical
Newspapers
This database provides
full-text access to the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times dating back to
their first issue. Go to the
ProQuest advanced search page, and under “multiple databases,” choose either the
Historical Los Angeles Times or the Historical New York Times.
The library also has back
issues of many periodicals, notably the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and
Los Angeles Times, available on microform, which can be viewed and printed on
our microform machines.
Bibliographies
A good way to find primary
sources is by using secondary sources.
Check the bibliographies of books and journal articles for citations, or
read the footnotes. The author may
have used a primary source that will also be useful to you.
|
Secondary sources
What is a secondary
source? A secondary source analyzes
and interprets primary sources, or summarizes previous research. Examples of secondary sources
would be encyclopedias, books, or journal articles. |
Encyclopedias and
Dictionaries
The
library probably has an encyclopedia or other reference work relating to your
topic. To search only for reference
works, do an advanced keyword search and limit the location to reference
stacks. Or, do a keyword search for
“Encyclopedia of…” or “dictionary of…” followed by your topic. You might also consult the Guide to
Reference Books (Ref Desk, Z1035 .W79).
Below are some key reference
works relating to history. Please note that these are just examples; there are
many more like this on a wide range of topics:
Dictionary of American
History (E174 .D52
2003)
Encyclopedia of Religion and
War (BL80.3 .E53 2004)
Dictionary of the Middle
Ages (GF10 .E63
2001)
Historical
Dictionary of the Holocaust
(D804.25 .F57
1999)
Encyclopedia of World
Environmental History
(HD8073.A1 B56 1984)
Encyclopedia
of Mexico
(F1210 .E63
1997 )
Encyclopedia of
Sculpture (NB198 .E53 2004)
Encyclopedia
of Race and Ethnic Studies
(GN495.6 .C37
2003)
Books
To look for books, start
with a keyword search, unless you know the exact title or author of the work you
want. When you find a book that
interests you, check the hyperlinked Library of Congress subject headings at the
bottom of the OASys record to see if there is one that matches your topic. If so, click on it and it will take you
to a list of all the books in the Oxy library that are categorized under that
subject heading. Be sure to click
the LINK+ icon to see what books are available from other libraries under that
subject heading.
Articles
To find databases that index
history journals, look under “DATABASES,” then “BY TOPIC,” and
choose “HISTORY.”
Essay and General Literature
Index
This publication indexes
articles that are published in books rather than journals. The library has all issues published
between 1900-2002. They are located
in the Reference Index Area, AI3 .E752.
Bibliographies
Consult the bibliographies
of relevant secondary sources in order to find more scholarship on your
topic. Additionally, check to see
if there is a published bibliography on your topic by doing a keyword search
that includes the word “bibliography.”
There are many free online databases and web pages that provide access to primary sources and secondary scholarship. Like any other Internet source, they need to be carefully evaluated to determine if they are accurate and reliable. For a guide to evaluating online resources, click here, or go to http://library.nyu.edu/research/tutorials/evaluate/. For a guide to citing online sources, click here, or go to http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html.
Ad*Access -- http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/ -- Created by the Duke University library, this database provides access to over 7,000 magazine and newspaper advertisements printed in the United States and Canada between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access focuses on five main subject areas: World War II, Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, and Transportation.
American Memory – http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/– Compiled by the Library of Congress, this database provides digital access to over 7 million items in over 100 collections, all of which relate to U.S. history and culture.
American Radicalism -- http://digital.lib.msu.edu/onlinecolls/collection.cfm?CID=1 – This site provides access to primary source documents related to radical movements in U.S. history, including the birth control movement of the 1920’s, the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, and the Black Panther movement. Created by the University of Michigan.
The Avalon Project -- http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm – Created by Yale Law School, this site provides access to important documents in American law, history, and diplomacy.
California Heritage Collection -- http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CalHeritage/ – From UC Berkeley, this online collection provides access to more than 30,000 images dealing with California history and culture.
Exploring the French Revolution -- http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/ – This site provides access to images, documents, songs, maps, and other primary source documents from the French revolution. Created by George Mason University.
The Internet History Sourcebooks -- http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ – The Internet History Sourcebooks provide access to public domain and copy permitted historical documents, as well as links to secondary sources and other websites. Sourcebooks are categorized by topic, era or region. Created by Paul Halsall, historian from the University of North Florida.
The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies -- http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/ – This site provides access to an extensive collection of primary sources, as well as links to related sites and other resources. Created by Georgetown University.
Making of America -- http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/ – Sponsored by the University of Michigan, this site is a digital library of books and periodicals from the 19th century. It contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles.
Links to other
index/gateway sites: There are many more websites like the
ones listed above. Below are
several sites that index history websites:
Reviews of American history websites -- http://historymatters.gmu.edu/webreviews/– Reviews from the Journal of American History of over 70 history websites and web-archives from the JAH.
Best of History Websites -- http://www.besthistorysites.net/index.shtml – Index of history sites relating mostly to the Western world, as well as ancient/biblical history.
The Cornell Library Digital Collections -- http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/ – A guide to Cornell University’s digital collections.
American Studies Web -- http://cfdev.georgetown.edu/cndls/asw/ – An index of web-based resources in American Studies.
History Matters -- http://historymatters.gmu.edu/ – “The U.S. survey course on the web.” A guide to web-resources in American History.
Librarian’s
Index to the Internet -- History -- http://lii.org/search/file/history – The
LII’s history index, covering a variety of topics from Vikings to WWII. Also offers an index of websites that
house primary
sources --
http://lii.org/search?query=History+Sources;searchtype=subject.
The Internet Public Library -- http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum30.00.00/ – An annotated index of history websites on a wide range of topics.
Middle East and Jewish Studies -- http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/cuvlm/ – An index to other sites dealing with Middle East and Jewish Studies. Created by Columbia University.