When doing historical research it is important to know what kind of sources you are searching for. There are Two main categories of sources in historical research - Primary Sources and Secondary Sources.
Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Primary sources can include:
You'll want to use a primary source whenever you need to examine or reference historical events. While you can do this to an extent with a non Primary source like a history textbook, it is much more valuable to use a piece of the actual history you are analyzing to further your claims.
A secondary source is something that analyzes or interprets primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include:
Secondary sources are often what you consult when you want to know what others think about specific events, artifacts, or pieces of art and literature. You can use secondary sources in your research to support or challenge your own findings and situate your work within the larger community of academic work on a particular subject.
Library databases are online searchable collections of information that we subscribe to for your use in your academic research. These databases are sometimes themed around a certain subject like history or art, but they can also be wide ranging, such as Academic Search Premier which spans all academic fields. For your research, you can choose a specific database to conduct your searches in, or use a tool like Academic Search Premier to get multiple perspectives on the same topic. You can also use the library's search tool, Cross Search, which will search almost all of the databases we subscribe to at once along with our collection of books and ebooks. Either strategy can be effective, so it really is up to you!
Journal articles, book chapters and magazines about the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450-present.
Journal articles, magazines, and news in almost every subject area.
Historical newspapers are a great option for primary sources. They tell you a lot about the discourse and culture of the time they were written in - it's kind of like having a secondary source of the time! Check out the databases below for your research project.
Keep in Mind: when thinking of keywords to use in primary source databases, you have to remember that terms that were applied to eras or things after they were popular may not be the best keywords to use. Try and think of words and terms that were used commonly in the time. For example pre - world war II is not a great key term to find things made before the war broke out or during the course of the war. Instead try "Weimar republic" or "German Reich".
Date(s):1851-2021
Articles from the New York Times, including all pictures and advertisements.
Date(s):1785-2019
Articles from the London Times, including all pictures and advertisements.