Using the Web for finding primary sources. The free web is one of the richest sources of primary source material but it requires the user to carefully evaluate what they find.
Review this recommended Web Guide before you start your search: Evaluating Primary Sources on the Web. An excellent web guide by the librarians at Lafayette College.
Try a Google.com search on your topic. Type in your topic include the words “primary source”
Example: “roman religion” “primary sources”
Also try limiting your results to .edu, .org, OR .gov web sites. For example:
"roman religion" "primary sources" site:edu
Using the Library Catalog:
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When searching in the Library Catalog do an advanced search and add the word “sources” to your search. Example: Other keywords to try: sources Example searches: NOTE: You can also use these techniques in WorldCat |
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Using Library Databases
Recommended Primary Source Databases
| Database Name | Focus | Content | Time Period |
| America | Includes African-American Newspaper Collection, American and WW I, American County histories, the Civil War Newspapers, Godey's Lady's Book, The Liberator, the PA Gazette (America's first "paper of record"), and other American primary source documents. View collections. | 1700s - early 1900s | |
| International | Access the entire Adam Matthew Digital Portfolio of published content through 2018. Discover unique primary source content from leading archives and libraries around the world. Includes hundreds of thousands of documents, hundreds of hours of video and oral histories, and thousands of images. Total of 78 collections. View title list | 1600s - early 2000s | |
| Archives Unbound | America | Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents. A multi-disciplinary resource, collections cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Particular strengths include U.S. foreign policy; U.S. civil rights; global affairs and colonial studies; and modern history. | 1600s - early 2000s |
| CQ Researcher | International | A database of in-depth, authoritative reports on a full range of political and social-policy issues extending back to 1923. | 1923 - current |
| Digital National Security Archives | America | Declassified US gov't documents relating to US foreign policy. Major collections include Afghanistan, Cuban Missile crisis, El Salvador, Irangate, Phillipines | 1945 - current |
| Digital Sanborn Maps | America | Sanborn fire insurance maps are valuable historical tools for anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of Pennsylvania cities, towns, and neighborhoods. | 1867-1970 |
| Ebony | America | Ebony is one of the key African-American magazines of the 20th century, covering 20th and 21st-Century current events, art, design, politics and culture, literature, advertising, and more. | 1945-2014 |
| Films on Demand | America | Includes archival news footage and films from American history. Examples: Nixon's address on Vietnam, WPA films, old TV commercials, WW II footage. | 1919 - present |
| Gale Virtual Reference Library | Mostly American | Speeches, letters, legislation, treaties, journal entries | 19th and 20th centuries |
| HarpWeek | America | Popular 19th century news and social magazine | 1857 to 1912 |
| HeinOnline | America | Legal research database. Also has a number of primary source collections including American Indians, Civil Rights, Social Justice, Pandemics, Executive Privilege, Gun Regulation, Impeachment Library, JFK Assassination, Legal Classics, Slavery, Supreme Court, Presidential Libraries. | Late 19th to current |
| Historical Statistics of the United States | United States | Historical Statistics of the United States is a compendium of statistics about United States. | 1790s - 2000s |
| Life Magazine Archive (EBSCO) | America | Life Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. | 1936-2000 |
| Newsbank | International | This collection includes 12,000+ sources including international/national/local, 181 image editions and a variety of specialized subject specific content like business/health trade journals, broadcast transcripts, etc. | 1980 - current |
| ProQuest Historical Newspapers | America |
Search the full text of the following historical newspapers: Pittsburgh Post Gazette |
1786 - 2016 |
| Readex Digital Archives | America | Includes historical newspaper collection, Early American imprints, and broadsides/ephemera collections | 1600s - current |
| Statista - Historical Data | International | Statistical data on a myriad of historical topics. | 500s - current |
| Women and Social Movements | America | Brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women.s activism in public life. |
1600 - 2000 |
