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Contents
Introduction
What are Primary Sources?
Types of Information Sources
How to Find Primary Sources
• In the Library Catalog
• On the Web
Evaluating Primary Source
Websites
Citing Websites
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This is a guide to the basic resources and strategies for finding primary sources. It is intended as a starting place and not as a comprehensive list of tools. Contact our reference librarians if you need additional assistance with your research.
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.
If you have any questions about what your professor will accept as a primary source, ask.
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It is not always easy to discern the difference between types of information sources such as primary vs. secondary or peer-reviewed articles vs. popular articles. These explanations may serve to assist in clarifying these concepts.
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In the Library Catalog
Search the Geisel Library's online catalog for published versions of primary sources. If you know of a person involved in the event or from the time period, use a keyword search to combine that person's name with words such as: memoirs, diaries, correspondence, papers, personal narratives, pictorial works, or sources. For example:
- George Washington and correspondence
- Nixon and letters
- Indians and treaties
- Indians and portraits
- Diaries and John F. Kennedy
Here is a list of selected primary sources available in microfilm/microfiche format on the Lower Level of Geisel Library.
On the Web
Use a search engine such as Google when you are researching a narrow topic or trying to locate a specific document. Using specific rather than broad terms will yield better results. As when searching the catalog, combine keywords representing your subject with keywords such as "letters", "correspondence", "diaries", or "government documents".
For a selected list of primary source websites organized by subject, check the digital collections page. Also check the Subject Guide for your area, which may list additional primary source websites worth exploring.
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Because there is no review process or regulation for the public Web, you will need to judge for yourself the quality of the material you find. Keep in mind these questions:
| Accuracy |
Does the information presented seem accurate? Are the facts verifiable? |
| Authority |
Who is the author? What expertise does he or she have on this topic? Who sponsors the site? Check the domain name to see if it is a university, business, organization, or an individual. |
| Objectivity |
What is the stated purpose of the site? Check the "About..." link if there is one. What position or opinion is presented and does it seem biased? What kind of sites does this one link to? |
| Currency |
On what date was the page created? Do you need more current information? Do links on the site still connect to their destination? |
| Use |
Would you quote information from this site in a college research paper? |
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It is important to provide complete information about your primary source whether found in a printed source or online.
The basic elements to include in a citation for a published print source are: author of the document, title of the document, title of the book if different from the document, name of editor or author of the book, place of publication, publisher, year, and page numbers.
The basic elements to include in a citation for an online source are: author of the document, title of the document, title of the web site, author or producer of the web site, URL, date (if given) and date accessed.
Various style formats such as Chicago, MLA and APA put these elements in different order using different conventions. Refer to the following resources for further information and examples:
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