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 and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
Taken from the American Library Association / Reference and User Services Association http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/
usingprimarysources
Databases with Primary Sources
The library subscribes to a number of databases that include primary source material. Here is a selected list to support your research on world civilizations. Please note that not everything within each database is a primary source; you will need to evaluate each source carefully to determine if it meets the criteria of a primary source for your research.
- Biography In Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowBiography In Context offers authoritative reference content alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day newsmakers, it’s continuously updated to ensure that students have access to the very latest information.
- History Reference Center - EBSCO This link opens in a new windowDesigned for secondary schools, public libraries, junior/community colleges and undergraduate research, this database features full text for thousands of primary source documents and informational texts.
- Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new windowClassic Greek and Roman text with English translations. A sign in option is available to save searches and organize content.
- Primary Source Collections by Adam Matthew This link opens in a new windowAdam Matthew publishes unique primary source collections from archives around the world. SNHU Shapiro Library subscribes to the following collections: African American Communities, American History 1493-1945, the Confidential Print: North America collection in Archives Direct, Defining Gender, Empire Online, Everyday Life and Women in America 1800-1920, Race Relations in America, and Socialism On Film. For more information on how to use these database, please see these tutorial videos.
- World History In Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowWorld History In Context reaches back to the ancient world — and forward to today's headlines — to deliver a chronicle of the great cultures and societies that have formed the history of the human race. Includes primary sources, reference, and multi-media content.
World History Primary Sources
The following is a list of selected digital collections found online, outside of the library. These collections include primary sources such as images, manuscripts, maps, and government documents.
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook This link opens in a new windowThis site focuses on online texts, which, for the most part, means public domain texts translated more than 75 years ago. In many cases it is these older translations which are used in commercially available sourcebooks. Coverage ranges from Mesopotamia to the origins of Christianity.
- Avalon Project This link opens in a new windowYale Law School’s Avalon Project contains digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. Covers time periods from ancient history to the modern day.
- Digital Scriptorium This link opens in a new windowThe Digital Scriptorium is a growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research.
- EuroDocs This link opens in a new windowSearch primary sources by European country of origin.
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project This link opens in a new windowFrom Fordham University, find primary sources for Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods. The site offers several sub-divisions (i.e. African, women, etc.) as well.
- The Labyrinth This link opens in a new windowFrom Georgetown University: Medieval studies scholarly resources compiled and organized from around the world. Contains texts in all European languages, including Latin and Greek.
- Library of Congress Global Gateway This link opens in a new windowThis resource contains a number of digitized international resources including cuneiform tablets, photographs and manuscripts.
- Perseus Digital Library This link opens in a new windowTufts University brings you an evolving collection of resources for the study of the ancient world, including archaeology, atlas, texts and translations, text tools and lexica.
- Internet Sacred Text Archive This link opens in a new windowThis site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics from many cultures and societies, including Native American, Maya, Aztecs and Inuit.
- World Digital Library This link opens in a new windowThe World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.