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Library Home |
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
| Comparison of
Primary vs. Secondary Sources |
Primary Sources in the
University Library |
Primary Sources
in other libraries |
Primary Sources
on the Web |
Not all sources provide information from the same vantage point. Students need to consider whether a research project requires the use of primary or secondary sources, or both.
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Primary |
Secondary |
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Definition |
First-hand account of an event; an original work. |
A summary, interpretation, or analysis of another's work; a second-hand account of an event. |
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Examples |
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Primary Sources in the University Library
- Library Catalog
- AUTHOR search: to find materials someone has written
- KEYWORD search: combine a topic, keyword, or person's name with any of
the following -- autobiography, personal narratives, letters,
correspondence, diaries, or memoirs.
Tip: "sources" is the official subject sub-heading used in the Library Catalog & WorldCat to describe primary sources. e.g. The subject heading "Crusades--Sources" indicates the work contains primary sources on the crusades.
- Special Collections
- The University Archives contain official documents from the university's past.
- Other special collections include primary source materials on local history.
- Newspapers
- The University Library has issues of local and national newspapers in microfilm dating back to the 18th century. Articles from many current newspapers (published from the 1980's to the present) are available via one of the library's Newspaper Databases.
- Government Documents
- The Library is a partial depository for federal, state, and local documents. The library web page has links to search engines for all documents and for those held in this library.
- Library Databases and Indexes
Lexis-Nexis. The "News" section of Lexis-Nexis Academic Search contains many primary resources including transcripts of television and radio broadcasts.
New York Times Index Index to articles from the nation's "paper of record" published from 1851 to the present. (Shelved in the "Newspapers in Microfilm" area of the Library Reference Room.
Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin. Index to articles and selected government documents/reports on public policy issues published from 1915 to 2002. Individual years may be retrieved from the Library's Closed Stacks (call number H96 .P9x) by submitting a request at the Circulation Desk.
Readers' Guide Retrospective. Index to articles from leading magazines and selected academic journals published from 1890 to 1982.
- Statistics
RAND California. A wide range of statistics about California.
FedStats. The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies.
Primary Sources in Other Libraries
Many primary sources have been republished in books and other formats and may be found in other libraries. In addition, research libraries and institutions have special, rare collections of books, photographs, sound recordings, diaries, letters, advertisements, and many other materials. These are often found in archives and/or special collections sections of academic libraries.
Primary Materials Reprinted in Published Works
- WorldCat
- AUTHOR: search the author's name to find materials someone has written
- SUBJECT: the term "sources" is used as a subject sub-heading for primary sources
- KEYWORD search: the following terms often lead to primary sources -- autobiography, personal narratives, letters, correspondence, diaries, or memoirs.
- Archival materials generally will not be available outside of the owning library. However, most books and other publications identified in WorldCat (and not available in the CSU Stanislaus Library) may be borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.
- KEYWORD search: the following terms often lead to primary sources -- autobiography, personal narratives, letters, correspondence, diaries, or memoirs.
Primary Materials in Archival Collections
- WorldCat
- Limit type to
Archival Materials - AUTHOR: search the author's name to find materials someone has written
- KEYWORD search: the following terms often lead to primary sources -- autobiography,
personal narratives, letters, correspondence, diaries, or memoirs.
- Most books identified in WorldCat (and not available in the CSU Stanislaus Library) may be borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.
- Minerva
- Searchable catalog of the California State Archives, including descriptions of selected materials held by the archives. (Prefers Internet Explorer - not all features work properly in Mozilla FireFox.)
- In the First Person
- Index to primary source materials available in over 3,000 historical archives around the country. Includes information on over 15,000 people, including access to the full-text of 20,000 diary entries, 60,000 letters, and 17,000 oral histories.
- Directory of archives and manuscript repositories in the United States
- Guide to archival collections of primary source materials available across the country.
- Library Reference CD3020 .D49 1988
- Subject collections
- This guide, available in the library's reference collection, describes special book collections and
subject emphases as reported by university, college, public, and special libraries and museums in
the United States and Canada.
- Library Reference Z731 .A78
- ArchivesUSA
- Most comprehensive single directory of archival repositories in the U.S.
- Available at the UC Berkeley Library.
Primary Sources on the World Wide Web
Research libraries and institutions have special, rare collections of books, photographs, sound recordings, diaries, letters, advertisements, and many other materials. Recently some of these collections have been digitized and are available to the general public. The sites below include some notable examples of primary source materials avaialable online.
- In the First Person
- Index to primary source materials available in over 3,000 historical archives around the country. Includes information on over 15,000 people, including access to the full-text of 20,000 diary entries, 60,000 letters, and 17,000 oral histories.
- Calisphere
- Includes images, documents, and other primary source materials related to California history and culture provided by the University of California and cultural organizations. Calisphere's primary sources include photographs, documents, newspapers, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other cultural a rtifacts. The site also provides a single entry point to more than 300 UC-created web sites on a wide variety of subjects. The images and documents are aligned with California's K-12 Content Standards.
- Library of Congress American Memory Collection
- Includes more than 7 million items from the Library of Congress.
- Sunsite Digital Text Collections
- A lengthy list compiled by the UC Berkeley Digital Library.
- Tobacco Control Archives
- A collection housed at the University of California, San Francisco. Provides access to papers, unpublished documents, and electronic resources related to the tobacco industry and tobacco litigation.
- Bancroft Library
- UC Berkeley's rare books and special collections library. Includes documents from the Free Speech Movement and the Disability Movement.
- Making of America Project (University of Michigan)
- A project developed by Cornell University and the University of Michigan. Provides digitized access to primary information sources describing American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. Currently includes 8500 books and 50,000 journal articles.
- Also available via Cornell University.
- New York Public Library Digital Collection
- Collections include performing arts, the Hudson River, the American West, African Americans
- American Civil War Collections (University of Virginia)
- Electronic Text Center. University of Virginia.
- Cornell Library Digital Collections
- Includes the Making of America, math, agriculture.
- Digital Scriptorium Projects
- Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Duke University.
- Includes advertising, music, women, Renaissance, elections.
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- The official depository for U.S. government materials. Select "Online Exhibit Hall" for interesting collections.
- Profiles in Science. National Library of Medicine
- Archival collections of prominent twentieth-century biomedical scientists.
- To locate subject or topical databases: Combine any subject or topic with the word "database"
- To locate a specific category of digital collections: Combine any subject or topic with the phrase "digital collections"
- For other web-based collections of primary sources use the "Invisible Web" search engines on the CSUS Library "Search Engines" page
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