What are Primary
Resources?
Definition:
"A primary source is one that provides the writer with original,
firsthand information." Writer's Encyclopedia 3rd
ed., 317.
Examples
of Primary Sources:
- Firsthand
accounts of historic events by witnesses and participants.
This includes diary entries, letters, newspaper articles,
oral-history interviews, memoirs, and legal testimony.
- Documents
representing the official views of the nation's leaders
or their political opponents. These include court decisions,
policy statements, political speeches, party platforms, petitions,
legislative debates, press releases, and federal and state
laws.
- Government
statistics and reports on such topics as birth, employment,
marriage, death, and taxation.
- Advertisers'
images and jingles.
- Works
of art
- The product
of mass culture: cartoons, comic books, movies, radio scripts,
and popular songs.
- Material
artifacts.
What
are Secondary Resources?
Definition: Secondary
resources offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources.
They often attempt
to describe or explain primary
sources.
Examples of secondary sources include:
- dictionaries
- encyclopedias
- textbooks
- books
and articles that interpret or review research works.
Primary Resources at the La Crosse Public Library
Primary
Resources on the Internet
National
History Day
This sites offers starting topics
and guidance to complete your national history day project. It
provides a wonderful overview and discussion guide on primary
sources.
Abraham
Lincoln Papers
"The complete Abraham Lincoln
Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately
20,000 documents. The collection is organized into three "General
Correspondence" series which include incoming and outgoing
correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, and notes
and printed material. Most of the 20,000 items are from the
1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. Treasures
include Lincoln's draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, his
March 4, 1865, draft of his second Inaugural Address, and his
August 23, 1864, memorandum expressing his expectation of being
defeated for re-election in the upcoming presidential contest.
AMDOCS: Documents
for the Study of American History
AMDOCS is a collection of links to
over 400 full text primary-source documents relating to the study
of American history
American
Originals
"American Originals presents
a selection of some of the most significant and compelling documents
from the National Archives holdings." Here you
will find the Resolution for Independence severing ties to Great
Britain, George Washington's first inaugural address, information
on the Louisiana Purchase, a casualty list of the 54th Massachusetts
Infantry Regiment, the verdict in the U.S. v. Al Capone, Eleanor
Roosevelt's resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution,
President Roosevelt declaration of war against Japan, the U.S.
recognition of the State of Israel, and much more. American
Memory Historical Collection
The Library of Congress has collected
photographs, videos, text and sound recordings on topics ranging
from quiltmaking to Native American culture to women suffrage.
Awesome Stories
"AwesomeStories.com uniquely uses the Internet to link its story
content to hundreds of thousands of the world's best on-line primary
sources. Enjoy an interactive learning experience as you see relevant
maps, pictures, artifacts, manuscripts and documents, IN CONTEXT,
within each story. Take advantage of human-based searches for a
safe, fast and fun way to learn the real story behind historic
events, famous people, heroic exploits, legends, disasters, movies,
plus topics of current and general interest."
Best
of History Web Sites
"Best of History Web Sites is
a portal created for students, history educators, and general
history enthusiasts." The sites are rated for usefulness
and accuracy. (Includes
both primary and secondary sources)
Chronology
of US Historical Documents
The University of Oklahoma College
of Law has compiled a nice listing of historical documents divided
into time periods from the pre-colonial era up through the present. Documents
include the Federalist Papers, inaugural addresses, the Gettysburg
Address, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the North Atlantic Treaty.
Digital
History
"This is an extensive and well-organized
site featuring "high-quality historical resources for teachers
and students." It includes primary sources, interactive
timelines, subject guides, etc. Historical
Text Archive
"This history web site offers
articles, books, maps, and photographs on various subject categories,
including genealogy, history, religion, rock-n-roll, wars and
women's studies." (Copyright 2002-Scout Report) Historical
Voices
Historical Voices is a collection
of audio files and digital collections in hopes of collecting
and retaining the spoken word for historical purposes.
Internet
History Sourcebook Project
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project
has gathered a wealth of primary materials from public domain
and copy permitted historical texts. The main sourcebooks
are divided into ancient, medieval and modern history. Supplemental
sourcebooks include African, Islamic, women's and Jewish history. This
site is a great tool for finding information concerning world
history.
In
the First Person: Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories,
and Other Personal Narratives
"In the First
Person provides in-depth indexing of more than 2,500 collections
of oral history from around the world. There are more than 260,000
pages of full-text by over 9,000 individuals from a variety of socioeconomic
backgrounds, juxtaposing the voices of ordinary citizens with those
of the well-published and famous. It also contains pointers to over
2,500 audio and video files and 16,000 bibliographic records. With
future releases, the index will broaden to identify other first-person
content, including letters, diaries, memoirs, spanning 400 years. "
Making
of America
Making of America is a collection
of digitized primary sources including books and journals from
the antebellum period through reconstruction. "The
collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education,
psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science
and technology."
US
History Primary Sources and Major Web sites
A listing of
valuable resources that the National History Foundation has compiled.
Other resource can be found on this page.
Using
Primary Sources on the Web
"This
brief guide is designed to provide students and researchers with
information to help them evaluate the Internet sources and the
quality of primary materials that can be found online. |
