UCB Libraries | Subject Guides

A primary source is a document, object, or other evidence about the topic you are investigating that was created during the time period under study. It provides direct evidence and thus offers an inside view into events of the period. Primary sources come in many forms: documents (diaries, letters, speeches, government documents, books, periodicals, interviews); creative works (novels, music, poetry); and artifacts (photos, pottery, clothing).

There are many primary sources available in the Libraries, including paper documents such as books, pamphlets, broadsides, and manuscripts from the period under study, as well as electronic, microform, and printed collections of these documents published at a later date. You can locate relevant items by searching in the CHINOOK library catalog. There are several ways to search effectively for primary sources:

Do a KEYWORD search on your topic, thinking of synonyms for your search terms.

Then add special subject terms that identify primary materials: sources (more general), correspondence, diaries, early works, narratives, pamphlets, speeches, letters, documents, etc.

Also try limiting the dates of publication by year, entering the dates bounding your time period. For this search, leave off any special subject terms identifying primary materials.

Another approach is to do an AUTHOR search for books written by key participants (people or organizations) in the events you are investigating.

Once you have found a useful item on your topic, take note of the terms listed under "Subject" in the item's full CHINOOK record. Click on the links to find related materials.

Use periodical and newspaper indexes covering the time period under consideration to identify contemporary newspaper and periodical articles. Examples include:

Index to Early American Periodicals, 1741-1935
This database covers all known periodicals that began and ended publication between 1741 and 1935; the full text of the periodicals is in the American Periodical Series I, II, and III, and English Literary Periodicals microfilm series. CU

19th Century Masterfile
Includes Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906), supplemented by Stead's Index to Periodicals (1890-1902; the "British Poole's") and other indexes to 19th-century publications. CU

Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900

The Wellesley Index identifies the authors of articles within 45 major Victorian periodicals, and provides a bibliography for each contributor. CU

Periodicals Index Online
Index to the contents of thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences since 1770. CU

Proquest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times
The New York Times offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue in 1851. CU

The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
Searchable access to the complete backfile of The Times ( London), available in full page images. (For full text of the The Times since 1985, use LexisNexis Academic or ProQuest Newsstand.) CU

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive
Provides a sensory journey of photographs, audio sound bites, graphics and text spanning over 160 years of history. Student comprehension and recall skills will improve with visually stimulating imagery meant for use in research papers, theses, reports and PowerPoint presentations. Access is for one concurrent user. CU

Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Includes the complete page images of 96,000 volumes in all subject areas published in Great Britain or in the English language between 1473 and 1700, and represented in the English Short Title Catalog and Thomason Tracts. CU

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
Eighteenth Century Collections Online is an ongoing project based on The English Short Title Catalog, a machine-readable union list of the holdings of the British Library, as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private and public libraries worldwide. This includes over 150,000 English-language titles and editions published between 1701-1800. CU

This collection is a critical resource for the study of all aspects of the eighteenth century, including the American and French revolutions, British and European literature, theatre and popular entertainment, politics and religion, popular morality and social life, and exoticism and imperialism. It offers a wide variety of fully searchable newspapers and periodicals not available elsewhere and has no overlap with ECCO, EEBO, or Early English Newspapers. CU

When complete, this database will consist of more than 160 British periodicals that detail life between 1681 and 1921. These titles touch on diverse topics like philosophy, fine arts, history, slavery, literature, psychology, science, Celtic folklore, and religion. The content is available in full page image with searchable full text. CU

Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800
Page images and searchable full-text of Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans. These 36,000 titles cover every aspect of in 17th- and 18th-century American life including history, literature, religion and foreign affairs. CU

Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819
Covering every aspect of American life during the early decades of the United States, this primary source collection provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the nineteenth century. CU

The Series I database offers fully searchable, cover-to-cover reproductions of nearly 350,000 issues from over 700 historical American newspapers focusing largely on the 18th century. Series II complements Series I by offering fully searchable digital facsimiles of several hundred thousand issues from more than 200 significant 18th- and 19th-century newspapers. These digital editions are based on Clarence S. Brigham's "History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820" and other authoritative bibliographies and primarily on the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society, which houses a comprehensive collection of American newspapers through 1876. CU

Online version of the cumulative Index (1811-1849) to Niles Register (also known as The Weekly Register, Niles Weekly Register, and Niles National Register ). Full-text will be added semi-annually. Please consult the update page for details. CU

This resource provides full-text content and images from numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. The collection encompasses the entire 19th century, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life. CU

American Memory
The premier collection of digitized American primary source material, from texts to photographs, created by the Library of Congress.

Making of America (Cornell)
Making of America (Michigan)
A large and diverse full-text collection of books and journals, mainly from the years 1850 to 1870, made available by the University of Michigan and Cornell University and Cornell University. Michigan's site is heavier on books, while Cornell's is heavier on journals.

EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History

Links to select primary source documents (transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated) arranged chronologically by country.

Use indexes to find historical government documents, for instance congressional hearings, treaties, census records, and laws. Most are located in the Government Publications Library on the 3rd floor of Norlin Library. Staff there can help you use the indexes to these materials. It also holds a number of microfilm collections containing unpublished and declassified material from the State Department, Defense Department, CIA, OSS, National Security Council, and various presidents that can be searched in CHINOOK. The Library's web site includes information about the Department, hours and staff, and lists many links to web resources.In addition, you can access online:

U.S. Congressional Serial Set
The bound, sequentially numbered volumes of all the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives constitute a rich source of primary source material on all aspects of American history. Upon completion, the digital version of the Serial Set will consist of approximately 13,800 volumes and over 12 million pages. CU

American State Papers, 1789-1838
A retrospective republication of approximately 6280 numbered publications, largely Congressional but also containing Executive Department materials. CU

LexisNexis Congressional
Provides access to congressional bills and bill status, debate, testimony presented at hearings, legislative histories, congressional reports and documents, laws, proposed and existing regulations, and biographical, financial and voting record information for members of Congress. Also a part of the LexisNexis package are State Capital and Statistical. CU

DDRS: Declassified Documents Reference Service
Access to selected, previously classified government documents. Full text searchable documents range from correspondence and memoranda to minutes of cabinet meetings, technical studies, national security policy statements and intelligence reports. CU

Special Collections, on the 3rd floor of Norlin Library, houses a rare books collection and variety of special subject collections which are described on its web site. Special collections staff can aid you in using its 70,000 plus volumes and several hundred feet of manuscripts. Works ranging from a 4,000-year-old cuneiform clay tablet to modern first editions are available for your research. Please note that many of these items are not represented in CHINOOK.

The Archives collects and makes available primary source material on a broad range of subjects, particularly in the areas of Western Americana, politics, labor, and environmentalism. It also houses official documents of Boulder Campus and the University System Administration of the University of Colorado. The staff of the Archives, located in the basement of Norlin Library, can help you locate resources relevant to your research. Many of these items are unique and are not represented in CHINOOK.

Selected Web Resources

Using Primary Sources on the Web

Covers several important points -- what primary sources are, how to find them on the web, and how to evaluate and cite them -- and includes links to quality sites; from the History Section, Reference and User Services Association, Association of College and Research Libraries.

WWW Virtual Library: History

Gateway offering links to hundreds of sites providing historical resources, among them primary sources (click in the upper right-hand corner for English version).

WESSWeb: Western European Studies Section

Links to resources evaluated and selected by library subject specialists for the Western European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.



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Subject Guide for History