Primary Sources Helpers

  • Types of Resources.
    From Wesleyan University. Lists a number of electronic and print indexes to primary sources.

  • In The First Person.
    An in-depth index to personal diaries, letters, oral histories, and personal narratives from around the world. Search by keyword, date, subject, place, collection, or historical event.

  • Library Research: Finding Primary Sources.
    From UC Berkeley. Presents search strategies appropriate to the type of primary source needed.

  • Making Sense of Evidence.
    From the History Matters project. Includes tips for interpreting diaries, photographs, maps, and other primary resources.

  • National Archives, Primary Sources for Educators and Students.
    Grouped by year, from 1754 to present.

  • Primary Sources.
    From Yale University. Offers many helpful definitions and examples of primary sources.

  • Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
    This digitized collection includes such things as letters, scanned civil war diaries, and many other digitized primary sources.

  • World Digital Library.
    The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

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