Definitions
What makes a source
primary?
Depends on the topic;
it can be complicated.
Talk specifics with your professor.
Very basic, simplistic definition:
What is a primary source?
Useful Tips
Browse footnotes and bibliographies of books, encyclopedias, and articles for information about primary sources.
Search the Library Catalog for primary sources--both unpublished manuscripts
and modern editions in print and online, sometimes in translation, of
original primary medieval sources. Use the guided keyword search with terms like:
sources
diaries
personal narrative
interview
letters
Newspapers Tips
With the exception of the
collections listed here,
newspapers are generally
not available full text before 1980,
especially non-US papers.
But older newspapers are
often available on microfilm
and can be interlibrary loaned.
There will be no index and
using newspapers on microfilm
is hard, time-consuming work.
To locate newspapers on
microfilm, use Worldcat:
country = subject
newspaper* = keyword,
limit = serial publications
format = microfilm.
Do NOT specify dates.
What is Microfilm?
Fabulous archival primary source material has been filmed over the years, but using it will take some getting used to. Ask for help with microfilm, microfiche, or microcards at a reference desk!
A sense of what it is and how you use it: Using Microfilm
