Examples
Primary & Secondary Sources
Primary sources are documents or objects that provide direct, first-hand evidence. A secondary source analyzes, discusses, summarizes, and comments upon primary sources. Secondary sources are one step removed from the original, primary source.
Disciplines define primary sources differently. To the scientist, they might be reports of original research or personal papers; to the journalist, they might be interviews or letters.
In Philosophy, examples of primary sources can include:
- philosophical texts, treatises, meditations
- personal narratives, diaries, memoirs, correspondence, letters
- speeches
(Primary Sources - Philosophy - Subject Guides at University of Alberta Libraries (ualberta.ca) available under a Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Examples of secondary sources include:
- biographies
- reviews
- critical analysis
- second-person account
- historical study
- journal article summarizing or examining previous findings
Tips for Finding Primary Sources
Primary sources may be available in print, in library databases, on websites, or in microform collections. Print primary sources, or print reproductions of primary sources, are sometimes available in archives and libraries. In addition, primary sources are increasingly found online in digitized form. These may be found in library databases or on websites. Primary sources are also available in microform, a format that has been used for many years to preserve documents, as well as to save storage space.
Tips for finding primary sources:
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When searching print and online access tools use search terms such as SOURCES, CORRESPONDENCE, PERSONAL NARRATIVES, DIARIES, RECORDS AND CORRESPONDENCE, SERMONS, SPEECHES, PAPERS, LETTERS.
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Look for titles of primary sources in secondary sources and in lists included in bibliographies of secondary sources. Use text, class, and library bibliographies for recommended titles or listings of primary sources.
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Browse library shelves around other relevant books. This is often a wonderful way to discover collections of primary sources that have been published in a book format.
On this guide you will find a partial listing of primary source materials available in Milne Library. This includes a listing of reference books, databases, websites, and microform collections containing primary source materials. Remember, this is only a partial listing. More primary sources can be found through searching print and online access tools and browsing the library shelves in relevant areas.
Books in Milne Library's Reference Collection
Below is a partial listing of books in Milne Library’s Reference Collection that may be helpful for primary source research. Some titles only list sources, whereas others include the text of sources. Note the call number below each title. These items cannot be checked out. However, students can request free photocopy of pages in print reference sources at the Research Help Desk. Staff members will attempt to make copies at the time of the request, but students should generally expect to pick up photocopies one or two days after the request has been submitted. A scanner is also available in the reference area for copying information. Assistance is available at the Research Help Desk.
Milestone Documents of World Religions by Call Number: REF BL 74 M 56 2011
Voices of Early Christianity by Call Number: REF BR 167 V65 2013
Voices of the Reformation by Call Number: REF BR 301 V65 2015
How They Lived by Call Number: REF CB 69.2 C56 2016
Milestone Documents in World History by Call Number: REF D 5 M55 2009
Voices of Victorian England by Call Number: REF DA 550 V65 2014
Behind Valkyrie: German Resistance to Hitler: Documents by Call Number: REF DD 256.3 B44 2011
Defining Documents in American History: the Vietnam War (1956-1975) by Call Number: REF DS 557.4 V54 2015
Voices of Ancient Egypt by Call Number: REF DT 61 V65 2014
Milestone Documents in African American History by Call Number: REF E 184.6 M55 2010
Exploration and Colonial America (1492-1755) by Call Number: REF E 187 E96 2013
The American Revolution, 1754-1805 by Call Number: REF E 203 A5727 2013
Manifest Destiny and the New Nation, 1803-1860 by Call Number: REF E 338 M25 2013
Slave Culture by Call Number: REF E 444 S55 2014
The Civil War, 1860-1865 by Call Number: REF E 464 C58 2014
The New York Times Complete Civil War, 1861-1865 by Call Number: REF E 464 N49 2010
America in the World by Call Number: REF E 744 A4857 2014
Guide to Documentary Sources for Andean Studies, 1530-1900 by Call Number: REF F 3429 G845 2008
Databases Available Through Milne Library
Below are some databases that may be helpful for primary source research. Some databases only list sources, whereas others include the full text of sources. All of the following databases are listed on the library website alphabetically by title under the Databases tab.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1 This link opens in a new window
Consists of over 850,000 pages including the full-text of almost every seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American title published before 1821. Areas covered include Afro-Americana, children's literature, education, eighteenth-century imprints, leisure and hobbies, medicine, religion, the trades, and women's literature.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 2 This link opens in a new window
Presents over 1000 full-text titles dating from 1821 through 1837. Areas covered include agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 4 This link opens in a new windowProvides a diverse record of life leading up to and during the Civil War, from 1853-1865. News from the battlefront can be found in addition to science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women’s fashion, family life, and religion.
- American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography This link opens in a new window
Ebook series includes written transcriptions of interviews with over 2000 former slaves from seventeen states, including those collected by the Federal Writers' Project. Many of the interviews occurred in the 1930s and 1940s.
- Archives of Latin American & Caribbean History, 16th-20th Century This link opens in a new window
Search and analyze the history of Latin America and the Caribbean from the sixteenth through twentieth century through primary source documents.
- China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new windowEnglish-language sources relating to China and the West, 1793-1980. Manuscripts encompassing events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic. Sources describing the lives and work of missionaries in China from 1869-1970.
- European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 This link opens in a new windowEBSCO Publishing, in cooperation with the John Carter Brown Library, created this resource from "European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed In Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750". Contains more than 32,000 entries. Index only.
- JSTOR 19th-Century British Pamphlets This link opens in a new window
Created by Research Libraries UK. Contains the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in UK research libraries. Pamphlets cover the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day.
- Gale Literature: LitFinder This link opens in a new window
Access literary works and authors throughout history, including full-text poems, plays, short stories, speeches, and more.
- Making of America
Digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. Subjects include education, psychology, history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
- Maps of New York: Paul Baumann Archive260 maps --USGS (United States Geological Survey) 15 Minute Quadrangle series of New York State. Over the years many of the maps in this series have deteriorated due to usage and time and other maps have just disappeared. These maps were produced between 1895 and 1955 and predate the current 7 ½ Minute Quadrangle series. They represent a great geographical and historical resource for understanding the nature of the state and its many communities. Open access
- New York Public Library Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Search over 890,000 items digitized from the New York Public Library's collections, including prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
- NYS Historic Newspapers
Search the NYS Historic Newspapers project, which provides free online access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York's unique history. Use the Search Tab to search the entire collection, or click on a county to search or browse geographically.
- New York Times This link opens in a new window
All students and faculty have unlimited access to The New York Times digital platforms, including personalized user experience, live coverage of breaking news, access to NYT articles between 1851-current, access to the International edition and Canadian, Chinese, and Spanish editions, full access to the NYT Learning Network, and access to the InEducation resource that helps faculty bring current events into the classroom. This resource includes access to archival content and replaces Historical New York Times and New York Times Archive.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of over three million articles from more than 550 leading magazines including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature. This resource offers researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century. Readers’ Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 includes all the information from 44 Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature annuals, as well as access to over three million articles from approximately 550 leading magazines.
- The Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Search over 200 years of The Times (London), an invaluable historical source widely considered to be the world's ‘newspaper of record.’
- Victorian Popular Culture
Despite the name, Victorian Popular Culture provides access to a wide range of primary source material related to popular entertainment in America and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 (scholar's edition)
Contains books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies documenting women's reform activities and social movements from 1600-2000.
Can be used for course content: Excellent primary source collections.
Websites for Primary Sources
Primary sources are increasingly found online in digitized form. Listed below are some websites that contain primary source materials. Consult your instructor on whether you are allowed to use primary source materials available via websites.
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress) - Search select American historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
- Digital Public Library of America - Virtual library of millions of items from 2,000 American libraries, archives, and museums documenting American cultural heritage. Can search and scan through the united collection of millions of items, including by timeline, map, format, subject, and partner.
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Fordham University) - A collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
- New York Heritage Digital Collections - Provides free access to more than 170 distinct digital collections, totaling hundreds of thousands of items representing a broad range of historical, scholarly, and cultural materials held in libraries, museums, and archives throughout the state. Collection items include photographs, letters, diaries, directories, maps, newspapers, books, and more.
- World Digital Library - Makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.