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HIST B1 : World History: Finding Primary Sources

Survey of the historical development of different world societies' major economic, intellectual, political, religious, cultural and social ideas and institutions from Paleolithic humanity to the Early Modern Era.

Primary Sources

Primary Sources

A primary source is something that was created and/or experienced at the time being studied. They provide a first-hand or eye witness account. Examples of primary sources include: historical documents, speeches Printer and Writer - Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words | Exhibitions - Library of Congress  paintings Renaissance - Wikipedia   photos Women in Science and Technology | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress                        newspaper clippings Primary Sources by Type - History - Library Guides at University of Washington Libraries             diaries or journals Primary Sources - History - Research Guides at Western Carolina University   artifacts  Library:Guide to Finding Primary Sources - UBC Wiki    etc.

Reproductions of primary sources (remember, we won't have the originals) can often be found in books and on websites. 

Tips for finding primary sources

  • To find primary sources using OneSearch type in your topic search term(s) and on its own line type sources OR documents.  Books and eBooks are tagged or labeled with the word sources when they contain primary sources, and often the titles or descriptions include the word documents.
  • To find primary sources using databases type in your topic search term(s) in either a primary sources database or limit the search results (Refine Results) to primary sources, primary documents, or newspapers. Limiting to images and audio files are available in some databases, as well.

Be sure to check out our Primary Sources LibGuide for more assistance.

What is a Primary Source?

Types of Primary Sources

There are many types of primary sources.

Literary or cultural sources

  • novels, plays, poems
  • television shows, movies, videos
  • paintings, photographs

Accounts that describe events, people, or ideas

  • interviews
  • eyewitness accounts
  • essays, speeches
  • memoirs, diaries, letters
  • government documents 

Information about people

  • census records
  • obituaries
  • newspaper articles

Information about places

  • maps, atlases
  • census information
  • photographs

Objects

  • clothing
  • furniture
  • artifacts

Empirical Works

  • research articles
  • clinical reports
  • case studies
  • original data

Adapted in part from University of Michigan Library 

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Differences between primary and secondary sources.

Free Online Primary Source Collections

The following links will take you to collections of primary sources in free online archives.