Accessing and Using Primary Sources
Interpretation and analysis of primary sources is a core defining practice for historians. The Primary Sources Research Guide is both a brief tutorial on primary sources in the humanities and a guide to how to search for and use the materials.
Each of these Research Guides has a Primary Sources page which includes the resources which are most relevant to the particular area.
Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources
Examples of Primary Sources |
Examples of Secondary Sources |
|
Original research articles published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals |
Scholarly articles which critique original research articles |
| Diaries | Review articles from scholarly journals |
| Correspondence, including Letters | Book or movie reviews |
| Interviews | Dictionaries (can also be a tertiary source) |
| Personal narratives | Directories (can also be a tertiary source) |
| Memoirs | Encyclopedias (can also be a tertiary source) |
| Autobiographies | Textbooks (can also be a tertiary source) |
| Speeches | Newspaper articles (can also be a primary source) |
| Photographs |
Quick Links To Popular Primary Sources
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Autobiography of Edward Austin SheldonProvides an account of the Jerry Rescue from the founder of our institution. A copy of the book is located on the 3rd floor of Penfield Library (Call #LB 1921 .0713 S5).
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New York Times Article Archives, 1851-presentOnline index. To get full-text from Penfield, check the link Find a Specific Journal. SUNY Oswego students, faculty, and staff may request free copy service for those articles available only in microfilm.
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Digital Public Library of AmericaA dynamic and growing collection of digitized materials from collections nation-wide.
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Chronicling AmericaChronicling America (ISSN 2475-2703) is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
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Hathi TrustHathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. It provides long-term preservation and access services for public domain and in copyright content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house partner institution initiatives. Learn how to download ebooks to your device.
