Your Librarian
Your Librarian
Niamh Wallace
Contact:
Main Library A209
(520) 621-4869
Learn about primary sources
Primary sources are original documents created at the time of an event, such as a newspaper account, photographs, or videos. Primary sources also include diaries, memoirs, letters and correspondence, interviews, government documents, and other records that document a past event. Historians use primary sources to interpret the past while building upon previous historical research.
Historians may locate original documents and other primary sources from archives, such as the University of Arizona's Special Collections. There are also published primary sources included in books and other formats. Those may be located in archives and libraries and can be identified by using a library's catalog or search tool or a database like WorldCat.
Some primary sources have been digitized and made available online, either freely-available or through databases purchased by libraries.
Learn more about how to identify, find, and evaluate primary sources with this Using Primary Sources on the Web guide from the American Library Association.
Find digitized primary sources - open access
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Library of Congress Digital CollectionsFind digitized materials from the Library of Congress.
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Chronicling AmericaFind fully digitized historic United States newspapers from 1789-1963.
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National Archives DocsTeachDiscover selected digitized documents from the National Archives.
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National History Day Student ResourcesFind links to U.S. and World History primary sources.
Find digitized primary sources - access from UA Libraries
Please note: these resources are only available to middle school and high school students when using the University of Arizona computing network.
Collections of digitized materials, including diaries, correspondence, government documents, images, and more.
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Archive ExplorerFind primary source materials from digital collections on American Indians, the American West, China, the Middle East, gender studies, Perdita Manuscripts (early modern women writers), and the Virginia Company, published by Adam Matthew Digital.
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Archives UnboundFind historical documents, including women's issues, health policy, film studies, the American Indian Movement, Mexican history, Afghanistan and the United States, records of the Persian Gulf War, and the U.S. Middle East Peace Policy.
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Border and Migration Studies OnlineFind a collection of texts, videos, images and historical documents that explores and provides historical context on many worldwide border areas, including the U.S. and Mexico.
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Find imagesFind compelling and diverse imagery to use in your slidedecks, papers, or other projects.
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British and Irish Women's Letters and DiariesFind letters and diaries of British and Irish women, biographies, and an extensive annotated bibliography, from 1500-1950.
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Human Rights Studies OnlineSearch primary and secondary sources related to human rights violations since 1900, including personal accounts, television footage, photographs, NGO records, government reports, court proceedings, documentaries, art, and reference literature. Featured human rights conflicts include Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and others.
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Making of the Modern World Part I: The Goldsmiths' - Kress Collection, 1450-1850Find unique primary sources that track the development of the modern, Western world through the lens of history, political science, social conditions, technology and industry, economics, area studies and more. Documents from the period 1450-1914.
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CongressionalFind Congressional reports, bills, hearings, committee prints, serial set maps, and other documents.
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North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950Large collection of women's diaries and correspondence, from Colonial times to 1950.
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Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000: Scholar's EditionFind primary and secondary materials about the history of women in social movements.
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Women and Social Movements International, 1840 to PresentFind texts by women activists, 1840-present.
Digitized newspapers and other sources
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African American Newspapers, 1827-1998Find fully digitized African American newspapers from more than 35 states.
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Chicago Defender (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Online content of the Chicago Defender which became the most influential black newspaper in the US within its first 10 years begins in 1910 and goes through 1975. Includes full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue of this newspaper.
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Chinese Newspaper Collection (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Find full-text, searchable archives of many historical Chinese newspapers in English from the years 1832-1953.
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ProQuest Historical NewspapersFind historical United States newspapers including the Atlanta Constitution, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post.
The Historical Newspapers databases normally add one year of coverage annually (Atlanta Constitution adds additional three years annually).
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Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1974-1996Find translations of broadcast news, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from over 100 nations around the world between 1974 and 1996.
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Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980Find hundreds of fully digitized Spanish-language and bilingual Spanish-English newspapers printed in the United States from 1808-1980. Based on the "Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project" directed by Professor Nicolas Kanellos.
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Guardian and Observer (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Search PDF scans of articles and advertisements in The Guardian and The Observer from 1791-2003. (The Guardian and The Observer were also published under the titles The Manchester Guardian and The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer)
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Jerusalem Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Full page and article images with searchable full text, covering 1932-1988.
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Latin American NewspapersSearch fully digitized newspapers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and elsewhere, from 1805-1922.
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Times (London)Find fully digitized issues of the The Times.
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World Newsreels Online: 1929–1966Find full runs of newsreels in their original form, including Nippon News, Les Actualités Mondiales, France Actualités, France Libre Actualités, Les Actualités Francaise, also United Newsreel, Universal Newsreel, and, Polygoon-Profliti.