What makes a source
primary?
Depends on the topic;
it can be complicated.
Talk specifics with faculty.
Very basic, simplistic definition:
What is a primary source?
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Search the Library Catalog for primary sources--both unpublished manuscripts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
For a selection of the writings of the Church Fathers in English full-text online, see The Catholic Encyclopedia online's new Fathers section or Early Church Fathers
Bibliography of English translations from medieval sources (Olin Library Graduate Study Center, Room 501 and Olin Reference Z6517 .F24) Outdated and superseded, but can still be useful on occasion, especially for brief works (a single letter or poem) or excerpts of longer works contained within books or articles.
British History Online Core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles.
Online Medieval Primary Source Bibliography A guide to translated sources. Geography and type features particularly useful.