Introduction to Primary Sources

Introduction |Definition | Locating| Evaluating |Citation Styles

Contact Information

For further assistance, please contact Casandra Fitzherbert, Head of Access Services, Glickman Library (casandra@usm.maine.edu; 780-4279).

Introduction

The traditional use of primary sources available in print and microfilm continues to be the foundation for research and a major tool in teaching students to think and evaluate critically. Iin some cases documents, letters, maps, photographs of ancient artifacts and other primary material are now available online from free websites on the internet. Students and researchers have greater access to primary source materials for historical research than ever before.

Locating, evaluating and citing primary sources is even more challenging for researchers when using primary sources on the internet. This guide is intended to support the research efforts of students in the field of history. Much of its content is directed toward that focus.

What are Primary Sources?

Think of primary sources as collections of raw data requiring interpretation. In many cases, they contain mainly factual material--that is physical descriptions, dates, locations, quantities, and other types of information that people generally agree is true. Utilizing primary sources in historical research is an opportunity to enhance critical thinking skills and evaluate people, places and events without the intermediate interpretation by other researchers.

A primary source is also a first hand record, account, testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation or study. Some examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, personal journals, interviews, oral histories, newspaper accounts at the time of the event and scientific research reports. The format may include maps, books & monographs, manuscripts, archives, dissertations, and visual materials.

Locating Primary sources

A first step in locating primary materials is to look at resources in the library's reference collection. Here you will become familiar with key dates, publications and individuals within the basic historical context of of your topic.

Serach Ursus using subject headings or keywords paired with specific subheadings that will identify materials as primary sources. Some subheadings are: correspondence, diaries, early works, interviews, pamphlets, personal narratives, papers.

For Example:

• New England personal narratives
• Suffrage sources
• Landscape diaries
• Religion New England early works

To limit searches by format, select the keyword option in URSUS, then link to Advanced Keyword Search. Advanced Keyword Searching has an option to limit by material type such as manuscripts, realia, art original, artifact, map.

Special Collections in libraries also collect primary materials in the form of manuscripts, papers, organizational records, ephemera or other unpublished materials. These are often original, one of a kind materials.The USM Glickman Library is home to 2 significant special collections. One, the Osher Map Library is located on the first floor of the Glickman Library and another, Special Collections is located on the sixth floor. Many other institutions locally have special collections as well.

General Resources for Locating Primary Sources

Boston Athaenaum Library
POR Z881 B74 1964

Guide to the Manuscript Collection of the Bancroft Library (University of California, Berkeley)
POR Z6621 C159

The Isabella Beecher Hooker Project
POR Z6616 H651737

Manuscript Collection of the Maryland Historical Society
POR Z6621 M3914

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
POR Z6670 M3914

Naval History Foundation Manuscript Collection A Catalog
POR Z6611 H5 U54 1974

Oral History Collection of Columbia University
POR Z6621 C725

Special Collections in the Library of Congress
POR Z733 U58 U54 1980

Internet Sites for locating Primary Sources

American Memory -
American Memory is a gateway to the Library of Congress’s vast resources of digitized American historical materials. Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, American Memory is organized into more than 100 thematic collections based on their original format, their subject matter, or who first created, assembled, or donated them to the Library. The original formats include manuscripts, prints, photographs, posters, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures, books, pamphlets, and sheet music.

American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography
Between 1936 and 1938, the WPA Federal Writers' Project hired field workers to collect the life histories of former slaves. Transcripts for 2,000 interviews, from seventeen states, were then compiled by the Library of Congress. The collection and the index are now searchable online.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections -
The NUCMC is a free of charge cooperative cataloging program funded by the Library of Congress.

New York Public Library Digital -
NYPL Digital is a gateway to NYPL unique and rare collections in digitized format. Digitized content has been drawn from a broad range of original historical resources and all historical media are presented as specific, original artifacts, without further enhancement to their appearance or quality, as a record of the era in which they were produced.

Repositories of Primary Sources -
Maintained by the University of Idaho, Special Collections & Archives it contains a listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar.

Historical Records Repositories in Maine
This directory indicates the name, address and contact information for over 140 historical societies, museums, libraries and other organizations holding historical records.

Women & Social Movements in the United States 1600 - 2000
A collection of documentary projects pertaining to women and social movements in the United States. Primary source materials include books, images, manuscripts, journal articles, pamphlets, letters, commentaries and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women's reform activities. This database has been made available through USM Faculty Technology Grant awards to the History and Women and Gender Studies programs.