Guides: Primary Sources for History Classes: Home

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Subjects: Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Modern Languages, Psychology, Sociology

Primary Sources

This guide will help you understand what primary sources are and where to find them. If you need help, don't hesitate to contact the history subject librarian (contact information on the left-hand side).

What are primary sources?

What are primary sources? - from Cal State Los Angeles
"Primary Sources on the Web: Finding, Evaluating, Using" From the American Library Association. Explains primary sources, provides links to primary sources on the web, and how to evaluate and cite primary sources on the web. Predominantly useful for United States and Canadian history primary sources.
"Guide to Online Primary Sources" from the University of California, San Diego. An extensive resource for primary sources in California, U.S. history, world history, maps, medieval history, newspapers, religion and more. NOTE: If you see a lock icon next to a resource, this indicates access is only available to UC San Diego students.

Finding primary sources on the Internet

Try a Google search by including the phrase "primary sources." As an example, to locate primary source material on Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, use the search string: Los Angeles Chinese immigrants [or immigration] primary sources. This will retrieve a number of documents and images.
The CSU Long Beach Library has a useful guide called, Finding Primary Sources for History Research: How to Identify and Find Primary Documents from the Internet.