Primary Sources
Primary Sources: What They Are and How to Use Them
What Is A Primary Source? (NC State Libraries video)
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/videos/what-primary-source
What Are Primary Resources (American Memory Learning Page)
https://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/prim_sources.html
Making Sense of Evidence (History Matters)
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/makesense/
Using Primary Resources on the Web
https://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/primarysources
Yale University Library: Primary Sources Research
https://primarysources.yale.edu/
Locating Original Primary Sources
Original resources often exist in one particular location -- often an archival collection in a library, museum, or other repository. Often it is necessary to consult biographical or other information sources to help in determining what repository might house items of interest.
ArchiveGrid
Index to archival finding aids derived from major archival libraries and sources in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Television News Archive (Vanderbilt University)
Searchable archive of abstracts of news broadcasts from 1968 to present (ABC, CBS, NBC), 1995 to present (CNN), selected content from PBS and FOX News. Video content from CNN viewable with RealOne media player. Descriptive summaries of the Vanderbilt University collection of network television news programs and other news-related programming collected in its archive since August 5, 1968. Loan copies of videotapes in 3/4 inch U-matic & 1/2 inch VHS. format are available for a fee from the Archive.
Oral History
Digitalomnium: oral history, archive and digital technology
https://digitalomnium.com/
Oral History in the Digital Age
http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/
Oral History Archivers (Columbia University Libraries)
https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/ccoh.html
Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History (University of Kentucky Libraries)
https://nunncenter.org/ohms-enhancing-oral-history-online/
International Oral History Association - National History Organizations
https://www.ioha.org/sites-about-oral-history/
Locating Published Primary Sources
Many important primary sources are reprinted or republished in edited works, and can be located through the library catalog. It is helpful to be aware of some typical Library of Congress Subject headings that are often used with primary sources. In the Library Catalog, you can look for these words under the Genre facet:
Examples include:
Sources (This will appear as Primary Sources under Genre in the Library Catalog (see above demos)
For example:
United States -- History -- Sources
Brings up items such as:
For the record : a documentary history of America / David E. Shi and Holly A. Mayer.
Published: New York : W.W. Norton, 1999.
Correspondence
For example:
Presidents -- United States -- Correspondence
Brings up items such as:
Jefferson in love : love letters between Thomas Jefferson & Maria Cosway / edited by John P. Kaminski.
Madison, WI : Madison House, c1999.
Archives
For example:
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation -- Archives
Brings up items such as:
FBI file on Howard R. Hughes [microform].
[Wilmington, Del.] : Scholarly Resources, [2000?]