Primary Sources and Digitized Collections

• What Are Primary Sources?
• Locating Primary Documents in our Catalog
• Meta-sites
• Magazines 
• Images &Movies
• Maps
• American History
• Oral Histories
• E-Texts
• Sheet Music

What Are Primary Sources?  Primary sources provide firsthand evidence of historical events.  These include letters, diaries, photographs, speeches, and other documents. Many of these are unpublished, one-of-a-kind items. 

A growing number of Primary Sources are available on the web, thanks to digitization projects by libraries, universities, and other agencies.

Many of the resources listed below provide digital images of the original documents. Others offer transcriptions i.e., retyped documents that appear as plain text. Still other resources provide photos, and audio files.

We have also provided links to some electronic book collections. While not necessarily Primary documents, books often shed light upon the times in which they were written.

To learn more about the importance of Primary Sources, please visit

• The Library of Congress Learning Page
  [ http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/psources/source.html]
• UCLA Institute on Primary Resources
   [ http://ipr.ues.gseis.ucla.edu/info/definition.html]

Please Note: The term Primary Sources is occasionally used to mean "empirical research"or "original case studies." If you're unsure about the Primary Sources you need for class, please consult with your instructor.

Locating primary documents on our catalog 
To locate primary resources, perform a Subject Keyword search on the person, place, event, etc., in combination with one of the following terms:

• diaries     
• personal narratives
• correspondence
• sources
• pictorial works
• maps
• speeches
• addresses

Meta-sites : NOTE:Meta-sites are lists of collections.  You'll need to search the collections individually for specific documents.

• The Digital Library Federation Public Access Collections [ http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?c=dlfcoll] is a search engine to the more than 300 libraries with major digital collections.  
• UC Berkeley [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Collections/] SunSITE Collections are an eclectic mix of digitized texts and images. These range from digital images of papyri and incunabula to Jack London's correspondence.
• Duke University Library's Scriptorium [ http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/] contains sheet music, advertising, writings by African-American women, and more. 
• EuroDocs [ http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/] are primary historical documents From Western Europe. A large collection of links that are "transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated." 
• The Directory of Digitized Collections [ http://www.unesco.org/webworld/digicol/] is an index to digital archives throughout the world. It is jointly managed by UNESCO and the International Library Federation (IFLA). Browse by theme or by institution for best results.
• In the First Person: [http://www.inthefirstperson.com/firp/index.html] A Metaindex by Alexander Street Press

Magazines and Periodicals

See Also:our Harpweek (Civil War) database

• The Making of America (MOA) [ http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/] "is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction."It contains digitized journals and books.
• The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1840-1902. An Brooklyn Public Library endeavor to digitize this local daily. [ http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle/index.htm]

Images:Art, Photography, Movies etc. 

See Also:our AP Photo Archive database

• The New York Public Library Picture Collection [ http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/] contains images from art masterpieces, as well as historical photos, etchings, and drawings.
• NYPL Digital Gallery contains historic photos, artwork and other documents from NYC's past.
• Florida Postcard Collection. Oranges, gators, and much more.
• Naval Historical Center Online Photographic Library [ http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm] is a great source for historic photographs and illustrations of US military history.
• SUNY New Paltz Postcard Collection [ http://lib.newpaltz.edu/banner/archives/postcards.html] covers a century of images of SUNY New Paltz and its environs.
• Hudson River Valley Heritage [ http://www.hrvh.org] is a growing collection of photos, maps, and other local history resources
• Prints and Photographs Online Catalog at the Library of Congress [ http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html] contains digitized images (e.g., photos, newspaper &magazine plates, artwork). Some materials are part of LC's American Memory Collection, while others are unique.
• The Internet Archive Moving Images Collection is a nonprofit group that digitizes commercial and independent films, commercials, etc. [ http://www.archive.org/details/movies]

Historical Maps

• NYS Map Pathfinder [ http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/nypath1.htm]
• Clearinghouse of digitized maps (U Texas libraries) [ http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/hist_sites.html#US]
• Cornell University Olin Library GIS Data &Maps [ http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/maps/usdata.html]
• NY Historical Society (links to maps, archives, city departments) [ http://www.nyhistory.org/library/reslinks.html]

American History

• eBooks: 19th c US History [http://www.digitalbookindex.com/_search/search010histusregimentsa.asp] A volunteer effort to link to digitized Civil War Books, many from the early twentieth century or earlier.
• Making of America [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html] Includes digitized regimental lists from US "War of the Rebellion."
• The History Channel Speech Archive (audio clips) [ http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/]
• Library of Congress American Memory Collection [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html] Use the Search or Collection Finder features to locate digitized images and text from a wide range of sources.
• National Archives and Records Administration Online Exhibit Hall [http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/index.html] features links to NARA displays and traveling collections. Here, you'll also find links to digital images of historic documents e.g., the Declaration of Independence.
• NARA "Milestones"collection [ www.ourdocuments.gov]
• Documenting the American South [ http://docsouth.unc.edu/dasmain.html] is a collection of resources on Southern History, organized by UNC-Chapel Hill. Included are images and transcripts of slave narratives, Civil War diaries, and oral histories.
• The A. &L. Tirocchi [ http://tirocchi.stg.brown.edu/] archive at Brown University contains correspondence, ledgers and ephemera from the A. &L. Tirocchi  gown company of Providence, RI, 1915 until 1947.
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History [ http://www.gliah.uh.edu/documents/documents.cfm] provides access to speech transcripts and more.
• The New Deal Network Collection [ http://newdeal.feri.org/] features speeches and images from the 1930s New Deal Era.
• Virtually Missouri [ http://www.virtuallymissouri.org] provides access to more than 50 digitized collections that describe the history of Missouri and its environs. This collection includes photos, text, and sound and video clips on subjects ranging from botanicals to jazz to military service records. It also links to larger national e-collections.
• Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers at the Library of Congress [ http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml/wrighthome.html] contains images, letters, and newsclippings about their memorable flight.

Oral Histories

• Virtual Oral/Aural History Archive [http://salticid.nmc.csulb.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/OralAural.woa/] Diverse insights into the American experience. In streaming audio with select images.
• British Library Oral History Links [http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/ohlinks.html] Browse through links to transcripts and audio in collections worldwide. NOTE: some sites require additional registration.

E-Texts and E-Books: full-image and transcribed texts

• The University of Virginia Electronic Text Center Collections [ http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/uvaonline.html] features images of texts on various subjects and in several languages.
• The Online Books Page at the University of Pennsylvania [ http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/search.html]
• The Internet Public Library Books Collection [ http://www.ipl.org/div/books/] provides author/title browsing, as well as access to free etexts organized by Dewey Decimal number.
• LitGloss [ http://wings.buffalo.edu/litgloss/list-of-texts.shtml] is a volunteer effort to transcribe "important and complex texts"to encourage language study.  Many of the texts have hyperlinks to background information.

Sheet Music

• Music Library Association List of Digital Music Collections [ http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/sheetmusic/collections.html] is maintained by Lois Schultz at Duke University.
• Templeton Sheet Music Collection at the Mississippi State University Libraries [ http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/main.html] features digitized music from the beginning of the 20th century, including blues and ragtime.