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HISTORY 201: The Historian's Craft: History of the Suburb in USA (Spring 2024) : Find Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs or oral histories. They enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period to help them understand and interpret the past. (See definition from the American Library Association's Reference & User Services Association's History Section.)

Some examples of types and formats for primary sources include:

  • Books such as personal narratives, memoirs, and autobiographies, collected works, and collections of documents (these may be edited and published after the historical event or time period)
  • Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles 
  • Government publications
  • Archival sources such as diaries, interviews, letters, photographs, video recordings, and other media
    • Interested in learning more about archives and how to use them? Check out this tutorial.

Finding Primary Sources in Books (in the Library Catalog)

Use the tips below to search the Library Catalog for books that contain primary sources.

  • Words in Catalog records may identify an item as a primary source.  Search for format-related words like advertisements, autobiographies, correspondence, documents, interviews, journal, letters, manuscripts, personal narratives, sources, speeches, etc.  You can combine a primary source format word with words describing your topic (for example, letters and Lincoln, diaries and civil war)
  • To find diaries, letters, autobiographies, personal papers, etc. by a particular person, search for the person's name as an author.
  • Use the "Years" drop-down to filter results to those published during a time period.

Selected Primary Source Digital Collections

General interest periodicals or magazines can be useful primary sources. Below are a few of the databases with magazines. Most can be found on the History - U.S./Canada subject page. More can be found on the Historical/Primary Sources Databases page.

Research Guides

See the Research Guides below for more information about primary sources. The Research Guides include many more online resources including ones with historical journals, magazines and newspapers and documents.

Finding Newspapers

Newspapers can be useful primary sources. Below are a few of the databases with historical newspapers. If these don't address your needs, check out the History - U.S./Canada page or  Newspapers research guide.

Websites with Digital Collections