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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Honors Topics in the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union: Revolution and Civil War Primary Source Analysis: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

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.

 

Tips for Citing Primary Sources in NoodleTools

SEVENTEEN MOMENTS IN SOVIET HISTORY

An Online Archive of Primary Sources 

A multi-media archive of primary materials designed to introduce students and the general public to the richness and contradictions of Soviet history... Subject essays written by a contributing scholar provide brief introductions to over 200 subjects.  These essays are supported by more than 1400 images,  270 video clips,  music with translated lyrics, and over 600 primary texts, as well as links to relevant materials outside the website. A joint project of Michigan State University, Macalester College, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

SOVIET HISTORY ARCHIVE 

A wealth of primary documents concerning major historical events, the Communist Party and Soviet government, first-hand accounts, statistics, Soviet science, and more. From Marxists Internet Archive.

 

SOVIET LIFE

In 1956, the Soviet and US Governments agreed to allow each other to publish a magazine in their own nation, but limited circulation to 30,000 copies per issue. The Soviet Government published a magazine entitled The USSR, while the US Government published Amerika.  A few years later The USSR changed its title to Soviet Life.
Soviet Life was generally not a political magazine, in the sense that it rarely delved into the political issues of the day, nor did it talk about political theory, etc. Instead it focused on Soviet culture (including national minorities), science, education and health care. The last issue of Soviet Life was published on December, 1991.
View full issues 1956-1961 at the Marxist Internet Archive.

 

 

FIND PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL IN

HISTORICAL NEWS DATABASES

  • ALWAYS limit your search to the date range relevant to your topic.
  • Try searching terms, phrases, etc. that were commonly used at the time in relation to your topic.
  • Look for document-type limiters that may improve your results, such as article, commentary, editorial, front page / cover story, letter to the editor, etc.

 

Resource Allows NoodleTools Export  Citations can be exported from this database to NoodleTools.

These history databases also contain primary source material:

Primary Sources in Reference Books

 

Additional Primary Source Websites

 

FIND PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL IN  

BOOKS /eBOOKS AND REFERENCE BOOKS / eBOOKS

USING RHINOCAT

 

Find PRIMARY SOURCES by or about a person relevant to your topic in RhinoCat.
  • Do an Author search using the name of a person relevant to your topic to find books, letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies written by that person.
  • Do a Keyword search using the name of a person to identify writings, interviews, and speeches in anthologies and collections.
  • Keywords you can combine with your topic or person's name include speeches, diaries, interviews, and correspondence. For example:
    • Progressive era speeches  
    • Theodore Roosevelt correspondence
 
Find PRIMARY SOURCES on your topic in RhinoCat using Advanced Search.
  • Click here to open the Advanced Search page.
  • In the first Keyword search line, replace xxxxx with your search term.
  • In the next Keyword search line, change Keyword to Subject and paste in (sources OR diaries OR narratives)

 

Tips for Citing Primary Sources in NoodleTools

PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = an electronic source found in a Taft Subscription Database such as Gale eBooks.
    • You can export citations from many of our databases. Look for Resource Allows NoodleTools Export  next to the database name.
    • If you find a document in a Taft Subscription Database that doesn't have the export feature, you will create an original citation.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link", Cite, Citable Link. 

  • Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide or a search engine such as Google or Sweetsearch. 

  • Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source book.

Next, determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

  • Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
  • If you are not sure, Anthology / Collection enables you to cite a source found within another source. For a document found on a website, Web Page works well in many cases.
You can also see (or email) Mr. Padgett, Ms. Taylor, or Mr. Previti and we'll help you figure it out.