Successful Searching
Whose Voices?
Similarly to academic articles, there are some very general tools that you can use to search primary sources broadly. However, it is usually more productive to work out in advance....
Who do you want to hear from...
This could be a perspective, a category of people, a specific group/organization, a geographic area or country, etc.
...And where are they?
Next, figure out where your voices "live" in the historical record. For example:
- Public opinion will often appear in newspapers, magazines, and other 'popular' publications.
- Political perspectives could show up in places such as public addresses; government documents, or in mainstream newspapers.
- etc.
This page of the guide is designed to give you some starting points -- but you can also ask Jennifer or Prof. Conley for suggestions.
Searching
- Keep your searches simple, and be creative with your search terms. How did people in the period you are researching speak and write? What words would they have used to describe events or ideas? Medical terms? Technology?
- Work with, not against, your search tools. Databases designed for primary sources often will let you narrow your search by features like publication date, geographic location, or type of source.
- Pay attention to the order of search results. If your search is very broad or you get a lot of results, sorting by relevance can help you find starting places. But when looking at newspapers or other sources that might build on each other and create a story over time, you may want to sort Oldest to Newest instead!
- Don't just search -- browse! Keyword searching for primary sources can be imprecise, especially if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. Give yourself time to click in and out of sources you're unsure of, browse through the pages, and look at the context of sources like newspaper articles (what other stories appeared on the same day? what advertisements?) for maximum information.
- Pace yourself. Primary sources can take longer to find than academic articles. You may also need more time to decipher, digest, and interpret the content of your primary sources. Leave yourself plenty of time to do this work, and ask questions or for assistance earlier rather than later!
Analyzing
- Patrick Rael, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students(Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College, 2004)
- Primary Source Analysis Worksheets - Digital HistoryUse these worksheets and other tools, originally developed by the National Archives, to help you analyze a range of primary sources including artifacts, cartoons, maps, movies, photos, posters, sound recordings, and written documents.
Working With Period Newspapers
Period Newspapers
Where to Find Newspapers:
British Newspapers:
- London Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1785-2019
Articles from the London Times, including all pictures and advertisements.
- British Library Newspapers [Boston Public Library subscription]Includes a wide variety of British papers ranging in date from the 1730s to 1950. To access, sign up for an e-card.
- 17th & 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers [Boston Public Library subscription]Newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) representing the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media, containing approximately 1,270 titles from London, the British Isles, and the colonies. Local Coverage: Boston Gazette (1721-1722); New England Courant (1721-1723). To access, sign up for an e-card.
- Sunday Times (London) Digital Archive (1822-2006) [Boston Public Library subscription]"Searchable page reproductions of Britain’s premier Sunday newspaper." To access, sign up for an e-card.
Other Papers & Sources:
- Irish Times & Weekly Irish Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1859-2022
Articles from the Irish Times and Weekly Irish Times, including all pictures and advertisements.
- Ideas of IndiaAn online project to index periodicals published in India from the early-19th to mid-20th century. Some periodicals include links to online sources; you can also use your own sleuthing to find access options, request an article via ILL, or ask me!
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
- African Newspaper Series 1 This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1800-1922
African newspapers in both English and other languages.
- South Asian Newspapers"The South Asian Newspapers collection chronicles [conflict sparked by British colonial rule and partition] as well as contemporary perspectives on independence movements, early statehood, and the extensive economic and social growth taking place in the region during this time. The collection covers several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and features multiple languages such as Bengali, Dari, English, Nepali, and more."
Contextualizing the British Press:
The resources on this tab are designed to help you understand the process of journalism and newspaper publishing throughout British History, and how to utilize these sources effectively as primary research sources.
Websites, Articles & Chapters:
- "Concise History of the British Newspaper". The British Library.This defunct page can still be accessed via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Books:
The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422-1992Call Number: REF PN5114 .E53 1992Located in the Main Reading Room; in-library use only
Other Suggested Collections
Documents & Ephemera
- 17th-19th Century British TractsPamphlets covering "every event and circumstances of the day, be it social, economic, legal, medical, political or religious." Created by the University of Missouri Digital Library.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1701-1800
British and American primary sources from the 18th century. - Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1789-1914
British and American primary sources from the "long" 19th century.
- Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Primary sources in English relating to empire building around the world and especially the British Empire.
- India, Raj & Empire This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1600s-1800s
English-language primary sources about the relationship between Britain and the British Empire in India, including the East India Company.
(Historical) Books
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Scanned books from major research libraries. Best for books published before 1928.
- Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Primary sources in English relating to empire building around the world and especially the British Empire.
- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 [Boston Public Library database]Contains books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about the Americas from 1500 to the early 1900's.To access, sign up for an e-card.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1600-2000
Primary sources created by and about enslaved individuals and the practice of slavery around the world.
In the Library:
You can also find many kinds of primary sources in the library. This could include writings published during the relevant time period as well as editions of primary accounts/documents that were re-published later.
When using CrossSearch, you can check the Catalog box on the left navigation bar to only search for items in the library catalog, then use the date slider to look at publication dates in your time period.
Remember to watch your keywords -- a book written in the early 20th century will use different vocabulary to talk about various historical events.
Keyword tips for finding primary sources in Dinand:
- Try the name of a specific region (including names they might have been known by in the past).
- Look for a specific traveler that you already know!
- Terms such as voyage, travel, journey are examples of words that appear often in titles of travel accounts.
Government & Political Documents
- Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Primary sources in English relating to empire building around the world and especially the British Empire.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scanned books from major research libraries. Best for books published before 1928.
- UK National Archives: Guide to Colonial Office Archives (1782-)This page offers a guide to conducting research using British Colonial Office records including access to those materials which are freely available online.
- UK National Archives: Guide to Foreign Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office records (1782-)This page offers a guide to conducting research using British Foreign Office records including access to those materials which are freely available online.
- The Dublin Castle Records 1798-1926 [Boston Public Library subscription]"The Dublin Castle administration in Ireland was the government of Ireland under English and later British rule, from the twelfth century until 1922, based at Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle Records, 1798-1926 contains records of the British administration in Ireland prior to 1922, a crucial period which saw the rise of Parnell and the Land War in 1880 through to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921. " To access, sign up for an e-card.
- India, Raj & Empire This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1600s-1800s
English-language primary sources about the relationship between Britain and the British Empire in India, including the East India Company.
Images & Multimedia
- ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Library of images relating to art and architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
- British Library (Flickr Commons)Over 1 million images taken from digitized books in the collections of the British Library and dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Misc. Web Archives
The web can be a great place to gather primary perspectives (while practicing careful source evaluation, of course!). There are many wonderful primary source collections available online through various museums, libraries and other cultural institutions. Here are a few that you might find useful:
- British History OnlineTranscriptions of primary and secondary resoures of importance to British history; browse by source type, genre, region or period/century, or keyword search.
- British Library Online GalleryView 30,000+ digitized materials from the British Library's collections.
- Europeana Newspapers"Explore the headlines, articles, advertisements, and opinion pieces from European newspapers from 20 countries, dating from 1618 to the 1980s."
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryHathiTrust is a repository of digitized books drawn from major research libraries in the United States. The library contains millions of books of all different dates and subjects. Certain parts of the collection are restricted, but many books are free online.
- Decolonization Resource Collection: AsiaIncludes links to various primary source collections relevant to studying decolonization in Asia, including India.
- Internet Indian History SourcebookPart of Fordham's Internet History Sourcebooks Project, this is a collection of primary-source documents pertaining to Indian history from antiquity to the present day.
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
- Early Caribbean Digital Archive"An open access collection of pre-twentieth-century Caribbean texts, maps, and images. Texts include travel narratives, novels, poetry, natural histories, and diaries that have not been brought together before as a single collection focused on the Caribbean."
- Legacies of British SlaveryProject dedicated to the study of the lives of enslaved individuals in the Caribbean.
- African Online Digital Library"AODL provides free universal access to cultural heritage materials from and about African countries and communities. It brings together tens of thousands of digitized photographs, videos, archival documents, maps, interviews and oral histories in numerous African languages, many of which are contained in curated thematic galleries and teaching resources."
- South African History Archive (SAHA)"he South African History Archive (SAHA) is an independent human rights archive dedicated to documenting, supporting and promoting greater awareness of past and contemporary struggles for justice through archival practices and outreach, and the utilisation of access to information laws."