This is a quick summary of where to find different kinds of primary sources. If you want further information about primary sources, see the Primary Source Research Guide.
Newspapers
Oral Histories
Art, Photography, Physical Objects
Cylinder Preservation & Digitization Project
Before MP3s, CDs, cassettes and vinyl records, people listened to … cylinders. First made of tinfoil, then wax and plastic, cylinder recordings, commonly the size and shape of a soda can, were the first commercially produced sound recordings in the decades around the turn of the 20th century.
The University of California, Santa Barbara Library, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Grammy Foundation and donors, has created a digital collection of more than 10,000 cylinder recordings held by the Department of Special Collections. To bring these recordings to a wider audience, the Library makes them available to download or stream online for free.
This searchable database features all types of recordings made from the late 1800s to early 1900s, including popular songs, vaudeville acts, classical and operatic music, comedic monologues, ethnic and foreign recordings, speeches and readings.
Primary sources can be difficult to track down. On this page you will find some recommended resources from across the web to find primary sources. You will also find some of our newspaper primary source databases. You can find more of our primary source databases on the A-Z Database list.
How do you know where to search for a primary source?
1) Consider your topic and the type of primary source you need for your research. A photograph and a letter are both primary sources, but you would analyze them differently because they are different kinds of sources.
2) Decide where you need to search. While Start My Research is great for many topics, it isn't always as good at retrieving primary sources. A documentary or a newspaper would be best found in a specific database for that type of resource. You may also need to search online for a digital archive to find other primary sources.
3) Choose several places to look for your source. If you know you want a newspaper article, browse several of our our newspaper databases - they don't all contain the same collections. Online digital archives require a similar strategy. They often contain distinct collections, and you may need to search several before finding the primary source you want.
Still can't find it?
It is always possible that you won't be able to find a specific primary source. Sometimes the primary source you want doesn't exist or isn't digitized. While people have been preserving history for the entirety of our existence, that doesn't mean that all history is preserved or that all of our preserved history has endured to the modern day. Even if it has been preserved, it may not be available online or it may not have been translated into a language you know, which curtails your ability to use it for a paper. (Although you can certainly go to a local archive to access an item!)
Ultimately, you can only use the primary sources that you have access to. You may need to adjust which primary sources you use for your research based on what you are able to find.
Know the name of a newspaper you'd like to browse?
Have the citation information for a news article you need?
Know the geographic area you're interested in, but not the name of the newspaper?
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