Primary Sources Research Guide

A primary source is a record or artifact from a given era that provides original documentary evidence of the time—like a snapshot of an experience, taken by someone who was there.

Examples of primary sources include:

• diaries
• government documents
• letters
• oral histories
• newspaper and magazine articles (from the time period under study)
• photographs
• artifacts

resource: This Primary Sources guide from Yale gives an overview of the major types of primary sources and why you might use them.

1. Do a search in Google (or the search engine of your choice)

2. Combine keywords that describe your topic with keywords to retrieve primary sources or digital collections from archives and museums

For example

• "Vietnam veterans" oral histories  
• "African American" women nurses "digital collection"
• 17th century recipes archives
• "Chinese immigration" letters

Common primary source keywords include:

• "primary sources"
• sources
• documents
• texts
• manuscripts
• "digital collections"

You can also try keywords for kinds of primary sources:

• "oral histories"
• "personal narratives"
• letters
• correspondence
• interviews
• diaries

Remember to evaluate the sites you find -- even a quick check to see if a site is produced by an archives, museum, governmental agency, or educational institution can help you determine whether this is a legitimate, trustworthy source for information. The best sites for primary sources will provide you with the information you need to cite your sources. 

Other research guides

To see if a librarian has already identified digital primary sources related to your topic, do an Internet search for a term or phrase related to your research plus the phrase "research guide" or LibGuide.

• For example: Search for history of medicine "research guide".