Working with Primary Sources
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:
- Perspectives from organizations will likely be found in either organization- or profession-specific newspapers/bulletins, proceedings of meetings/conferences, or collections of a particular organization's papers;
- The perspectives of an individual worker could live in the sources above; in interviews with mainstream news media; or in a personal memoir, among others.
- Politicians' perspectives could show up in places such as public addresses; government documents (like the Congressional Record, on the national level), or in mainstream newspapers.
- Religious perspectives are likely to live either in religious-specific publications, in pamphlets put out by a church or related organizations, or in personal memoirs.
- etc.
This page of the guide is designed to give you some starting points -- but you can also ask Jennifer or Prof. Bush for a recommendation!
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? Are there specific names or organizations that you can focus in on?
- 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.
Collections of Primary Sources
Historical Books:
- Cornell University [Digital] Witchcraft Collection"Cornell’s Witchcraft Collection contains over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the Inquisition and the persecution of witchcraft, primarily in Europe." This subset of the collection contains about 100 digitized books. Some, but not all, are in English.
- EEBO: Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1473-1700
Historical ebooks published in English in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and British North America. - 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.
- 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.
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 consider historical language!
Correspondence & Other 'Ephemera':
- Digital Commonwealth (Massachusetts Collections Online) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Historical sources owned by libraries, museums and other institutions in the state of Massachusetts, browsable by topic, institution, format or location.
- 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.
Images:
- The Damned Art (University of Glasgow Library)"An exhibition of books relating to the history of witchcraft and demonology, drawn mainly from the Ferguson collection."
- Artstor This link opens in a new window
Now part of JSTOR. Library of images relating to art and architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
Tips for Remote Image SearchingTrial Documents:
- Cornell University [Digital] Witchcraft Collection"Cornell’s Witchcraft Collection contains over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the Inquisition and the persecution of witchcraft, primarily in Europe." This subset of the collection contains about 100 digitized books. Some, but not all, are in English.
- Early Modern Witch Trials (UK National Archives)"This document collection includes various documents relating to the witch craze in 17th century England."
- Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1674-1913)"A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,752 trials held at London's central criminal court, and 475 Ordinary’s Accounts of the lives of executed convicts."
- Survey of Scottish Witchcraft (1536-1736)"This is an electronic resource for the history of witchcraft and witch-hunting in Scotland. It is in two parts: an interactive database, and supporting web pages."
Misc. Web Archives:
- EuropeanaA portal for cultural materials -- images, sounds and videos as well as texts (including digitized books) -- drawn from libraries, archives, museums and more throughout Europe. Everything in Europeana is free to access.
- Library of Congress Digital CollectionsThe Library of Congress has many wonderful online collections of primary sources from a variety of historical periods.