Primary Sources : Primary Sources

Note: Academic departments and disciplines define 'primary sources' differently. Check with your instructor if you aren't sure about what counts as a primary source for an assignment.

With that being said, these are some general characteristics of primary sources:

• Primary sources provide a first-hand account, direct evidence, or original findings on a topic. Primary sources are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented.
• Primary sources are often created at the time the event or condition is occurring (for example, letters or newspaper articles describing current events), but some primary sources are reflections or descriptions of events or conditions that are recorded much later (for example, autobiographies, memoirs, oral histories, and scientific research articles).
• Primary sources are characterized by their content, not format (original, digital, published, etc.). That means, for example, a letter written in 1867 would be a primary source whether you read the original letter in an archive, a digital scan of the letter online, or a typed-out copy of the letter in a published book.

Use the Libraries' WorldCat catalog (the main search box on the library homepage) to find primary sources. Just type in your usual search terms and add one of the terms listed below!

• Sources
• Personal narratives
• Diaries
• Correspondence
• Interviews
• Autobiography
• Memoirs
• Description and travel
• Pictorial works