LibGuides: POL 1010: Primary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

Primary Sources
by Amy Spitz Last Updated Aug 21, 2023 26 views this year

A primary source is a document or object that was created at the time of the period under study. It is a first-hand account created by someone who experienced the event or time.

Examples of primary sources:

Letters
Memoir
Newspaper Articles
Diary
Recordings
Oral History
Survey Data
Photographs

Where can you find primary sources?

Many primary sources have been made accessible online by archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies. Find primary sources in:

CSM's Library Databases
Other libraries and archives
Historical societies and museums

Primary Sources in Databases

Gale eBooks (Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
This collection of reference eBooks includes some primary sources.

Daily Life Through American History in Primary Documents [4 Volumes] by Randall M. Miller; Theodore J. Zeman; Francis J. Sicius; Jolyon P. Girard
Call Number: (eBook)
ISBN: 9781610690331
Publication Date: 2012
Explores the daily lives of American people from colonial times to the present through primary documents that include diaries, letters, memoirs, speeches, sermons, pamphlets, and all manner of public and private writings.
American Decades Primary Sources by Cynthia Rose (Editor)
Call Number: (eBook)
ISBN: 9781414411170
Publication Date: 2004
Cross-disciplinary source spanning the 20th century. Each volume in the set includes full or excerpted primary sources representing the seminal issues, themes, movements and events from a decade. Includes oral histories, songs, speeches, advertisements, TV, play and movie scripts, letters, laws, legal decisions, newspaper articles, cartoons, recipes, and more.
American Decades Primary Sources (2000-2009) by Rebecca Valentine, Lawrence W. Baker, ed.
Call Number: (eBook)
ISBN: 9781414491394
Publication Date: 2013
This volume covers the first decade of the twenty-first century from monumental events and groundbreaking individuals to the details of Americans' daily lives. Topics include world events, the arts, business and the economy, education, fashion, government and politics, law and justice, lifestyles and social trends, media, medicine and health, religion, science and technology, and sports.
Government, Politics, and Protest: Essential Primary Sources by K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner, eds.
Call Number: (eBook)
ISBN: 9781414412634
Publication Date: 2007
A collection of primary source documents that focus on government, politics, and protest issues of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. International in scope.

The Federalist Papers (EBSCO's Military & Government Collection)
HTML Full Text available to read or listen.

Online Collections

America's Founding Documents (National Archive)
Read transcripts and other information about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
See digitized primary sources from the Library of Congress. Limit your search by topic, format, or collection.
The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Collections of primary source documents related to law and diplomacy from governments and nation-states around the world. This collection encompasses multiple time periods.
The Constitution: Primary Source Set (Library of Congress)
Collection of primary sources related to the Constitution.
Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789 (Library of Congress)
Collection of primary source documents relating to Congress's work, drafting, and ratification of the Constitution.

POL 1010

Contact Us

Ask a Librarian:

Library@csmd.edu

What is a Primary Source?

Where can you find primary sources?

Primary Sources in Databases

Online Collections