Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source. Examples include: eyewitness accounts, autobiographies and memoirs, diaries, letters, speeches, reports, newspapers, household and day-to-day objects, clothing, works of art, architecture, and photographs.
Please note: primary source documents are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.
Do an Advanced Search in Rhinocat to identify library books and ebooks containing primary sources using these steps:
In the second Keyword search line, substitute your search term for xxxxx.
If your keyword term is a phrase such as Berlin Wall, use quotation marks around the phrase: "Berlin Wall"
Thank you for handling these fragile bound volumes with care! Want a copy of an article or advertisement? Please take a picture or scan the image using your smartphone.
The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935-2010. Ref HN90 .P8 G35 - HN90 .P8 G35 20 vols
Historical Statistics of the United States: From Earliest Times to the Present [colonial times to 1970]. eBook on the U.S. Census website.
Presidential Elections, 1789-2004. Ref JK524 .P6783 2005
Public Opinion, 1935-1946 / edited by Hadley Cantril. eBook on the website, Internet Archive.
This is Who We Were Decades series. "Each volume combines census and other government data with personal narrative, advertisements, clippings, and so forth to provide a portrait of a decade" (Library Journal). Volumes cover decades from 1880 - 2010; the volume for the 1930s is titled A companion to the 1940 census.
Vital Statistics on the Presidency: Washington to Clinton. Ref JK518 .R34 1996.
To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:
Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch, or a search engine such as Google.
Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.
Next, determine what kind of primary source you are citing: