LibGuides: How Do I?: Find Primary Sources

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. For example: Great War instead of World War I.
Look for document-type limiters that may improve your results, such as article, commentary, editorial, front page / cover story, letter to the editor, etc.

Citations can be exported from this database to NoodleTools.

Access World News -- Historical and Current This link opens in a new window
Search thousands of credible, global news sources from more than 200 countries and territories. Find articles organized by eras in U.S. History in the companion database America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-2000. TIP: Sort results by BEST MATCH.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools. For a list of suggested topics, click here.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to 270 historically significant African-American newspapers from across the U.S. TIPS:Choose Advanced Search; change Sort to BEST.
America's Historical Newspapers 1690 – 2000 This link opens in a new window
A timeline-based interface divided into key eras in U.S. and world history from 1690 to 2000. Each issue/event includes an overview, and links to related articles in newspapers of the time.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
Gale Primary Sources: Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Contains full-text content and images from numerous urban and rural newspapers throughout the U.S. Tips:Choose Advanced Search and limit the date range. For opinion pieces, limit Document Type to Editorials.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
New York Times: 1851-2019 This link opens in a new window
Contains every issue of The New York Times published from its first issue on Sept. 18,1851, including all articles, illustrations, and advertisements. The title changed from New York Daily Times to The New York Times in 1857.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
The Times (London) Digital Archive 1785-2014 This link opens in a new window
More than 200 years of news in full facsimile images from London's premier newspaper. TIPS: Choose Advanced Search and limit by Publication Date. Limit Document Type to Editorial.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL DATABASES CONTAINING PRIMARY SOURCES IN US HISTORY

CLICK HERE FOR ALL DATABASES CONTAINING PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary Sources: Google

To find primary sources using Google, the following will work, but be sure to evaluate the website

This search will find primary source documents relating to the Berlin Wall on the internet.

Search Tip Add the phrase site:gov OR site:edu to limit your results to the domain .gov for U.S. government agencies and the domain .edu for educational institutions in the U.S, generally considered the two most reliable domains.

You may also find valuable primary source material in Google Books, which contains millions of digitized books. Books that are in the public domain may be available in their entirety; these include books published in the U.S. before 1923, but also many other works may be available due to failure to renew copyright, for instance. To find books, do a keyword, author, or title search and then click on Tools to display limiters. To find entire books that are available for free, choose Free Google ebooks.

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, substitute your search term for xxxxx.
In the next Keyword search line, change Keyword to Subject and paste in (sources OR diaries OR narratives)
You may add additional Keyword search lines, but the Subject search line should be the last line of your search.

Primary Source eBook Only Search

Use this search to find only ebooks containing primary sources
that can be accessed via our library catalog.

Websites

Alpha History:
Free online collection of history resources.
American history primary source content available online at the Library of Congress
American Memory
Digital collection compiled by the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program.
Avalon Project
Digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. This collection includes documents going back to 4000BCE to modern history.

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: A Selection of Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
This open website from ProQuest features approximately 1,600 curated primary-source documents related to critical people and events in the African American freedom struggle. Documents include historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more.

Children and Youth in History
Explore more than 300 annotated primary sources from throughout history; From George Mason University.
Digital Public Library of America: Primary Source Sets
Choose subject or time period in American history.
Documenting the American South
Digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on Southern history and culture.
Eurodocs: Online sources for European History
A digital history portal that offers links to online facsimiles, transcriptions, and translations of European primary historical sources.
European History Primary Sources
Searchable index or browse by country, language, period, subject, or type of source; from European University Institute.
Eyewitness to History
Award-winning site introduces each first-person account with commentary to place it in its historical context.
George Mason University: World History Sources
Arranged by geographic region and by time period; from George Mason University.
Hanover Historical Texts Collection
The Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses.
Internet Archive
Huge digital library of websites, music, moving images, and books.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Documents collection covering Ancient history, medieval history, modern history, women's history, and many more areas; from Fordham University.
Internet Library of Early Journals: A digital library of 18th and 19th Century Journals
Scroll down the homepage for a description of each of these British publications; from the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Internet Public Library: Historical Documents and Sources
Links to primary sources on the web from the Internet Public Library.
National Archives DOCS Teach
Search or browse a large collection of documents from the U.S. National Archives.
Online historical newspapers
A list of free and "pay wall blocked" digital online newspaper archives arranged A-Z by country; from Wikipedia.
Primary Resources: U. S. history
Primary resources on significant moments in U.S. history and politics, curated by distinguished scholars; from the Miller Center at Univ. of Virginia.
Project Gutenberg
Large collection of digitized books through the ages; Search by author, or choose the Bookshelf from the sidebar and browse.

U.C. Berkeley: Primary Sources on the Web
A helpful list of primary sources on the Web from University of California, Berkeley.
U. Penn: Online Books Page
Over 2 million free books on the Web searchable by author and title, and browseable by subject; from University of Penn.
Using Primary Sources on the Web
Brought to you by the American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association. It is a great place to start and gives a great deal of information on finding and using Primary Sources. Includes links to major collections of primary sources on the web.
Women in World History
Arranged by geographic region; from George Mason University.
World Almanac
This quick-reference book loaded with statistics and other useful information has been published regularly since the 1800s. Digital coverage on The Online Books Page goes up to 1922. The Library has the print book for several years between 1937 and 1968, and most years thereafter to current year.
World Civilizations Resource Center : Primary Sources
Contains 30 documents in world history; includes an introduction placing each document in context.
World History Primary Sources
From National History Day.org.

The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

How Do I?: Find Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

FIND PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL IN

HISTORICAL NEWS DATABASES

CLICK HERE FOR ALL DATABASES CONTAINING PRIMARY SOURCES IN US HISTORY

CLICK HERE FOR ALL DATABASES CONTAINING PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary Sources: Google

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, substitute your search term for xxxxx.

In the next Keyword search line, change Keyword to Subject and paste in (sources OR diaries OR narratives)

You may add additional Keyword search lines, but the Subject search line should be the last line of your search.

Primary Source eBook Only Search

Websites