Analyzing Primary Sources
Use the resources in this box to assist you in analyzing primary sources for your research.
- 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.
Search Tips for Primary Sources
Remember that non-scholarly sources such as newspaper/magazine articles will often be titled very differently than academic sources that you might be used to searching for. The titles are not always descriptive. Being flexible with your search terms can go a long way!
Use the database limiter tools. Many primary resources can be browsed (or in the case of online tools, searched) by publication date, or by geographic location. It is often more helpful to do a very basic search and then limit your results by date, than to try to put in very specific keywords.
Note the order of your results. Some databases default to sorting by date. In some cases, sorting by relevance may be more helpful. In others, looking at the most recent articles first will be the best bet.
Don't just search -- browse. In addition to reading articles that come up in your search results, spend some time looking over pages of newspapers. You might come across something that surprises you!
Start early. It may take some time to find an issue to work with. Leave yourself plenty of time and ask for assistance earlier rather than later.
Suggested Resources
Databases @ HC Libraries
Below is a list of selected primary source databases that might be helpful for your research. Since each topic is unique, some databases will be better for your topic than others. Be sure to note the date and geographic coverage for these databases to determine which ones will provide sources for the topic you are researching.
We have over 60 primary source databases, so it's impossible to list every possibility here. You may want to review our full list of primary source databases, here. Need a recommendation? Ask a librarian! We have a good sense of what's available in the library's collections.
REMEMBER to consider....
Newspapers & Other Periodicals
- American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1740-1940
Historic magazine and journal articles, including professional, childrens' and womens' magazines. - Boston Globe Historical This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1872-1993
Articles from the Boston Globe including all pictures and advertisements. - Chronicling America This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1756-1963
Historic newspapers from all different U.S. states, hosted by the Library of Congress. - Fortune Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1930-2000
Articles from Fortune Magazine including all pictures and advertisements. - JSTOR Arts & Sciences This link opens in a new windowWe think of JSTOR as a database for secondary scholarship, but it also includes journal articles, editorials and more dating back to the 19th and even, in some cases, 18th century.
- Life Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1936-2000
Articles from Life Magazine, including all pictures and advertisements. - New York Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1851-2021
Articles from the New York Times, including all pictures and advertisements. - People Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1974-2000
Articles from People Magazine, including all pictures and advertisements. - Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1880-1982
Citations for popular magazine articles. - Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1954-2000
Articles from Sports Illustrated, including all pictures and advertisements. Read more recent articles at the Sports Illustrated Vault. - Time Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1923-2000
Articles from Time Magazine including all pictures and advertisements. - U.S. News & World Report Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Date(s):1926-1984
Articles from U.S. News & World Report including all pictures and advertisements.
Media
- Artstor This link opens in a new window
Now part of JSTOR. Library of images relating to art and architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
- Digital Commonwealth (Massachusetts Collections Online) 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.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1950-1975
Magazines, zines, and other primary sources reflecting the culture of the US and UK in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s.
Government & Related Documents
- HeinOnline: Government, Politics & Law for Academics This link opens in a new window
A library of legal resources including law journals; government, legal and diplomatic documents; books; reports; and historical sources.
Recommended Web Resources
You may wish to use a Google site search to browse websites specific domains. For example,
site:*.gov will find your keywords on government websites, and
site:*.edu will find your keywords on educational websites.
There are many wonderful primary source collections available online through various museums, libraries and other cultural institutions. Below are listed a few that you might find useful.
- CIA FOIA Reading RoomThe CIA FOIA Reading Room contains information on world leaders and countries, maps, and other resources, as well as declassified documents from their records.
- Google Newspaper ArchiveFree, online access to digitized newspapers from around the world, covering a range of dates from 19th century to present. Search or browse an alphabetical list of titles.
- FBI Vault (FOIA Library)The FBI Vault makes publicly available documents which have previously been declassified and digitized for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
- Library of Congress Digital CollectionsThe Library of Congress has many wonderful online collections of primary sources from a variety of historical periods.
- Newspaper Digitization Projects - ICONA list maintained by ICON (International Coalition on Newspapers) of newspaper digitization projects, organized by both country and US state.
- Wikipedia List of Online Newspaper ArchivesYes, this is one of those times when it is OK to use Wikipedia as a resource! This page provides a crowdsourced list of online newspaper archives around the world, including information about access. Use the navigation menu to the right to jump to the country/state you're interested in viewing.
...and others! Let me know if you'd like help locating some for your specific topic.