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Definition:
Primary sources are the original, first-hand accounts on a subject or event. Primary sources
include letters, diaries, speeches, manuscripts, autobiographies, eyewitness accounts, editorials,
quotes, interviews, opinions, surveys, investigations, government documents, and reports of
original research.
A general rule-of-thumb for determining a primary source: how close in time was the document
produced in relation to the event it discusses? A few hours, weeks, days, months, or decades?
Finding primary sources:
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Bibliographies can lead you to primary sources. A bibliography is a list of
sources consulted in the preparation of research papers, reports, books, articles,
encyclopedia articles, dissertations and other works. A bibliography can be an entire
book or at the end of a book, chapter or journal article that focuses on a subject.
Keep in mind that a bibliography may have secondary sources as well as primary sources
so read the citations looking for the clue words listed below.
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Doing a subject search in the library catalog will provide you with a list of books
on a topic. You can use proper names of people or places as subject headings.
Example of a primary source book:
Hakluyt, Richard, 1552?-1616
The principal navigations, voiages, and discoveries of the English nation.
Imprinted at London, 1589. Cambridge, Published for the Hakluyt society and
the Peabody Museum of Salem at the University Press, 1965.
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In identifying primary sources, look for “clues” within the author, title and note
areas in the catalog records, bibliographic citations or abstracts of each item.
Common clues are the following terms:
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Sources
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Personal narratives
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Correspondence
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Manuscripts
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Diaries
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Autobiography
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Interviews
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Speeches
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Documents
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Letters of
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Writings of
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Reprint of
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Journals of
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Oral history
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Quotations
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Words spelled oddly - (voiages instead of voyages)
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Research
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Study/Results
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Identify primary sources through using secondary sources. Look at the secondary
sources’ bibliography, footnotes, and endnotes
to lead you to the primary sources that their authors used. Then, find those items in the library.
Primary sources in Newspapers & Periodicals:
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Search a newspaper or journal index published in the year and date of your event.
Before 1984 use paper indexes. Computerized indexes cover more recent years.
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Use the same “clues” listed in the previous section of this research guide to
determine if it is a primary source.
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Using a periodical index, examine the article or abstract to determine whether
or not it is a primary source. Journal articles have bibliographies which lead
you to primary sources just as other bibliographies do. Older articles are not
indexed in computerized databases so you will need to use paper indexes. Ask a
reference librarian to advise you on the most appropriate index to use.
Examples of a primary source citation in a journal:
A physician's eyewitness report in Iraq
The Lancet. London: May 13, 1995. Vol. 345,
Iss. 8959; p. 1242.
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Carlene Henneman, Mary Anne McLeod, David E Andersen.
Red-Shouldered Hawk Occupancy Surveys in Central Minnesota, USA
Journal of Wildlife Management. Bethesda: Apr 2007.
Vol. 71, Iss. 2; pg. 526
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How can you tell that these are examples of a primary source? One is an eyewitness account of
the event witnessed. The other is an original report of a scientific survey.
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Government documents and government web sites may be the source of primary source
material as well. Primary sources such as data and statistics, public documents,
congressional hearings, court transcripts and texts of speeches may be found in
government documents. More of this type of information is being put up on government
web sites all the time.
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