LibGuides: MTH HIS 277: Searching Library Materials

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What is a Primary Source?

Primary sources are original documents or records. They can include:

Original research articles
Letters, diaries
Raw data
Interviews
Speeches
Photographs
Audio or video recordings

To search for primary sources online or in the library catalog, combine your keywords with other terms such as:

sources
diaries
correspondence
interviews
personal narratives
pamphlets

What is a Secondary Source?

Secondary Sources:

Offer an interpretation or analysis of the primary source materials

Second hand accounts of historical events

Secondary sources can offer hindsight and/or a critical analysis of an era, event or person.

Examples of Secondary Sources:

Journal articles, biographies, books, textbooks, reports on events, websites, encyclopedia, etc.

Primary Source Databases

American Indian History Online
The American Indian History Online database offers access to more than 15,000 years of culture and history through event and topic entries, biographies, images, maps and charts, primary sources, and timeline entries.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment (Alexander Street Press)
Contains approximately 100,000 pages by 1,482 authors of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters.
American Journeys
American Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later.

Search for books and more

Search@UW
Search@UW is a one-stop solution for the discovery and delivery of local and remote resources, such as books, journal articles, and digital objects. Search@UW assists libraries in exposing the richness of their collections and engaging users with an up-to-date discovery and delivery experience.

Recommended Databases

Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)
Academic Search™ Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database, covering subject areas such as animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & more.
America: History & Life (Ebsco)
America: History & Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. This database includes indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to present, as well as citations and links to book and media reviews, and abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages. In 2006, America: History and Life began adding retrospective coverage for the most important historical journals in JSTOR.
America's Historical Newspapers (NewsBank)
This database allows users to explore newspapers from America's past. Available here: Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876; Series 2, 1758-1900; Series 3, 1829-1922; Series 4, 1756-1922; Series 5, 1777-1922; Series 6, 1741-1922; Series 7, 1773-1922.
History Reference Center (Ebsco)
History Reference Center offers full text from more than 2,500 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, cover to cover full text for nearly 170 leading history periodicals, more than 112,000 historical documents, 113,000 biographies of historical figures, more than 112,000 historical photos and maps, and more than 80 hours of historical video.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections I, II, III, IV, V, and VI (JSTOR)
JSTOR is a digitized archive of major research journals in a variety of academic disciplines, many of which date back to the 1800's. JSTOR contains the backfiles of journals; the most recent volumes are two to five years behind the latest issues, depending upon agreements with the journal publishers. UW Colleges has a subscription to the Arts & Sciences I, II and VI collections.