University Library > Finding Primary Source Materials for History

Finding Primary Source Materials for History

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When doing historical research, it is important to distinguish between primary and secondary sources:

Primary sources are written by people who have direct knowledge of the events or issues under discussion: they were participants in or observers of those events. . . . Authors of secondary sources have indirect knowledge, only. They rely on primary or other secondary sources for their information.
(Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook. 3rd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1997. 574.)

Examples of primary source materials are

  • diaries
  • letters
  • interviews
  • speeches
  • photographs
  • census records
  • newspaper or magazine articles written at the time an event occurred.

Not every one of the above materials is always a primary source; each item must be considered individually.

For information on finding secondary sources for history, see the Finding Secondary Source Materials for History user guide.

Searching in the Library Catalog

To find primary source materials in resources such as books or videos in the University Library, search the Library's online catalog. To find articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers, see the Finding Articles section below. To find government documents, see the Government Documents section below.

Subject Searching

Library of Congress Subject Headings are assigned to items to denote the major topic(s) covered by an individual item. Subject headings for historical topics can be quite complex, and are not always what you might think (e.g., the Civil War is listed as United States History Civil War, 1861-1865). Look in the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes (located at the Reference Desk) for headings to use, or do a Keyword search in the online catalog on your topic and look at the subject headings in the retrieved records. Then use those subject headings in a Subject Heading search. Reference librarians can also help you find a suitable subject heading for your topic.

To conduct a Subject Heading search in the online catalog, choose Subject Heading in the Search By box on the Basic Search screen. In the Search For box, type a Library of Congress Subject Heading.  For example:

holocaust jewish (1939-1945) personal narratives

An alphabetical list of subject headings appears. Click on the link for your heading to retrieve records with that heading. Or, scroll through the list for possible related subject headings available on that topic.

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Keyword Searching

To conduct a Keyword search in the online catalog, choose Keyword(s) in the Search By box on the Basic Search screen. In the Search For box, type one or more search terms that define your topic, as well as a term used in subject headings for primary sources, such as

  • diaries
  • correspondence
  • interviews
  • sources
  • personal narratives

Combining multiple terms with the and operator will yield records that contain all of those terms, while truncating words with a ? allows you to find all words that begin with a root word. For example:

holocaust and "personal narrative?"

For more information on searching in the Library catalog, see the Library user guides: How to Use the Library Catalog: Basic Search and How to Use the Library Catalog: Additional Features.

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Finding Articles

The Library has journals, magazines, and newspapers that go back many decades. Articles from newspapers and magazines written at the time an event occurred can be a good source of primary information. For details on finding citations for older articles, see the Print Periodical Indexes section below.

Most older issues of periodicals are available only in print, microfilm, or microfiche. Looking up a periodical title in Citation Linker on the Library's web site will tell you whether a particular title is available through the Library and for what dates, as well as the format(s) available. When using Citation Linker, always include at least the year of the periodical that you are seeking, if at all possible. The format of a periodical may vary depending on the year needed. Some examples of older periodicals and their formats in the Library are:

  • Ladies' Home Journal: Formats: current issues available in print until microform received; older issues available on microfiche (1975- ), in print (1902-1974), and on microfilm as part of APS (June 1889-Nov. 1907)
  • Life: Format varies between electronic, print, microfilm, and microfiche (1936-1972; 1978-2000)

Print Periodical Indexes

To find citations for articles in issues of periodicals published before the early 1980s, you will usually need to use a print index (see sample page). For example:

  • American Periodicals, 1741-1900: An Index to the Microfilm Collections
    Ref Index Stack 3B
  • New York Times Index (Sept. 1851-1990)
    Ref Index Stack 3B
    (Searching of and access to the full content, cover to cover, of the New York Times from 1851-2003 is now available via the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database. See Online Periodical Indexes and Databases, below.)
  • Official Index to the Times (London) (1906-June 1984) (beginning in 1968, most volumes are titled The Times Index)
    Ref Index Stack 3B
  • Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906)
    Ref Index Stack 3B
  • Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (1900-1995)
    Ref Index Stack 3B
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Index (1907-Mar. 1974) (vols. 1-18 are titled International Index to Periodicals)
    Ref Index Stack 1B
  • Humanities Index (Apr. 1974-Mar. 1991)
    Ref Index Stack 1B
  • Social Sciences Index (Apr. 1974-Mar. 1991)
    Ref Index Stack 1B
  • The Wall Street Journal Index (1958-1990)
    Ref Index Stack 3B

To find out whether the Library has access to a particular periodical--either in print, microform, or online--or to find out in what format(s) a periodical is available, search Citation Linker**. Articles in periodicals not owned by the Library may be obtained through interlibrary loan.

(**Exception:  To determine Library holdings information for periodicals found in the American Periodical Series microfilm collection, including the microfilm reel numbers, conduct a Journal Title search for the periodical on the Basic Search screen of the online catalog.)

Some of the print indexes above are continued in an online format and these online indexes may be used to find more recent articles. Online indexes and databases may be found on the Library's Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers web page, or by clicking the Find Articles, Statistics... heading on the Library's home page.

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Online Periodical Indexes and Databases

Online periodical indexes that contain at least some full-text documents are often referred to as databases. Some University Library databases are particularly useful for finding primary source material, such as diaries and letters. For example:

All of the databases listed above provide the full text of documents. For a listing of all Library online indexes and databases, see the Library's Alphabetical List of Indexes and Databases web page.

Other Online Indexes and Databases

  • In the First Person (Alexander Street Press) - This is a free online index to some (not all) of the content in many of the subscription-based Alexander Street Press databases as well as to materials freely available on the web. It contains citations to letters, diaries, and oral histories. Links to full text, audio, and/or video files are sometimes provided.
  • Newspaper Archive - Available through BadgerLink. Search more than 2,500 newspaper titles between 1759 and 2006. Search across all newspapers or narrow by date and/or location. Coverage of each newspaper is not complete and in many cases may be sporadic. Complete runs of newspapers are not available for most publications. Some articles may be viewed for free; other content requires payment for viewing. Databases provided through BadgerLink are available to all Wisconsin residents; however, a Wisconsin Internet Service Provider must be used. To access the database, follow these steps:
    1. Open BadgerLink.
    2. Click on the Newspaper Archive link.
    Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader® is required to view the articles. The type on the pages may be a poor quality scan and might be small and difficult to read. Articles not freely available full text in this database might be obtained through interlibrary loan.
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Government Documents

Government documents, such as census data, public records, statistics, and laws can be good sources of primary information. The University Library is a selective depository for U.S. and Wisconsin documents, and also has small collections of titles from international governmental organizations. More information on the types of documents received by the Library and an explanation of their classification systems can be found at http://library.uww.edu/collectn/govcol.html.

How to find government publications often depends upon the date of the document you are looking for:

  • To find government documents from 1976-present available in the Library, as well as a select number of older documents, use the Library's online catalog.
  • To find federal government publications prior to 1976, you will often need to use the print index, Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (also known as MoCat), located in the Documents Reference collection on the library's main floor. Print volumes of the catalog are available in the Library from 1936-1995. This index includes bibliographic information important for finding a document, such as title, issuing agency, and SuDocs classification number.
  • To find information on federal publications prior to 1936, try the Document Catalogue, located in Documents Reference on the library's main floor, available from March 4, 1893 through December 31, 1940.
  • To find publications created by federal agencies from July 1976 to the present--including links to full text when available--use the online Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Documents not owned by the Library might be available through Universal Borrowing or interlibrary loan. For local government records, try the Library's Area Research Center.

In addition, certain federal government publications, such as Supreme Court opinions, are found using resources other than those listed above. For assistance in finding government documents, ask at the Reference Desk.

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Finding the Text of Federal Laws

When public laws are passed by Congress, they are first published in paper form and are known as slip laws. After a session of Congress is finished, these slip laws are republished in a bound volume format, along with private laws, concurrent resolutions passed by Congress, and presidential proclamations. These volumes are known as the Statutes at Large.

The last step for a public law is the United States Code, which compiles active laws by subject. It does not include private laws. The USC is updated every six years, with supplements in intervening years. Because information in the USC is updated to reflect later changes and amendments to laws, it does not necessarily reflect a law as originally passed. For original text of federal public laws, use the Statutes at Large.

Using the Statutes at Large

To find a law in the Statutes at Large, use the law's Statutes at Large citation. An example of such a citation is 78 STAT. 241 (see sample page). The first number in the citation refers to the volume and the second number refers to the page. The volume number does not coincide with the session of Congress that passed the laws contained in the volume. In this example, volume 78 contains laws passed by the 88th Congress. In addition, some volumes are published in two parts.

If you do not have a citation for the law, choose the Statutes at Large volume that contains the year the law was passed, and look in the subject index at the back of the volume for either the name of the law or, if there is no formal name, for the subject that you need. The page number on which the information begins is listed.

In addition to the text of the law, the Statutes at Large shows the public law number, the date the law was enacted, the original number of the bill that created the law, the United States Code citation(s) where the law will be placed, and the legislative history of the law. In volumes prior to 1975, the legislative history is found in a table at the back of each volume; from 1975 forward, the history appears at the end of each law.

The University Library's Statutes at Large are located as follows:

  • 1984-present: Documents Reference (main floor), call number AE 2.111:
  • 1964-1983: Documents Reference, call number GS 4.111: (Note: All volumes, 1964-present, are arranged in chronological order starting with 1964, regardless of the change in call number for later years.)
  • 1789-1963: Reference Microform Room (main floor in Pamphlet File Room), call number GS 4.111:
  • 1789-1875: also available online through the Library of Congress's American Memory site

Full text of public laws from 1989 to the present can also be found online in the LexisNexis Congressional database. (Off-Campus access requires UW-W login.) Follow these steps:

  1. Open the database (found on the Alphabetical List of Indexes and Databases web page).
  2. Click on Legislative Histories, Bills, & Laws on the left side of the page.
  3. Under Search within, choose Public Laws.
  4. Search by keyword.

The legislative history of a public law back to the 91st Congress (1969/1970) can also be found in the LexisNexis Congressional database. The legislative history will contain the Statutes at Large citation for the law, which can then be used to find the text of the law in the correct print volume, or, for more recent laws, in the database. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the database (found on the Alphabetical List of Indexes and Databases web page).
  2. Click on Legislative Histories, Bills, & Laws on the left side of the page.
  3. Under Search within, choose Legislative Histories.
  4. Search by keyword.

For further background on the Statutes at Large, see History of United States Statutes at Large and United States Code. For assistance in using the Statutes at Large, contact a reference librarian.

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Area Research Center & Wisconsin Historical Society

The Area Research Center (ARC) is located in the Library and is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public during specified hours. The ARC, a cooperative venture between the University and the Wisconsin Historical Society, is one of thirteen centers located throughout Wisconsin which contain local government records and manuscripts for designated groups of counties. Each ARC may borrow materials from the others for the use of its patrons. These materials may be identified through the Wisconsin Historical Society's Archives catalog, ArCat. Most of the items found using ArCat can be borrowed by the ARC for patron use. UW-Whitewater's ARC covers the materials of Rock, Jefferson, and Walworth counties. Most of the materials in the ARC cannot be checked out. For further information on ARC materials and services, see the following web page: http://library.uww.edu/collectn/arc.html.

The Wisconsin Historical Society is located on the UW-Madison campus. In addition to the holdings in the WHS Archives Division, the WHS Library contains thousands of books, pamphlets, and newspapers on North American history. To locate items in the WHS Library, search UW-Madison's online library catalog, MadCat. Materials found in MadCat are not borrowed through the ARC; instead, use Universal Borrowing or interlibrary loan to obtain these items. Which borrowing option to use depends upon the item; contact a reference librarian to find out how to obtain the item you need.

For a bibliography of newspaper holdings in the Wisconsin Historical Society, see the following resource in the University Library Reference Collection:

Danky, James P., and Maureen E. Hady, eds. Newspapers in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin: A Bibliography with Holdings. New York: Norman Ross Publishing, 1994.
Call number: Ref Z6952 .W8 N49 1994  2 vols.

Volume I contains listings of Wisconsin newspapers and volume II contains listings of U.S. and foreign newspapers.

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Web Resources

The Web can be an excellent resource for primary historical information. Photographs, scanned images of original documents, reprints of diaries and letters . . . these materials and much more may be found on library, university, and government web sites. Some sites are specific to a certain event or era, while others provide more wide-ranging historical documents. Not all materials on these sites are primary, so evaluate them carefully. Examples of such web sites are:

  • American Memory (Library of Congress) - Photographs, maps, manuscripts, sheet music, and more are provided on this site produced by the Library of Congress. A broad range of American history is covered. Search specific collections or across all collections, or browse collections by topic.
  • Historical Census Browser (University of Virginia Library) - Using data from the U.S. Census of Population and Housing volumes, this site provides statistics for each decade from 1790-1960. The amount and type of information varies. Information is available at the state and county levels.
  • Making of America (University of Michigan) - This site is "a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction." The full text of thousands of books and journal articles from the 19th century are included. Simple searching is available on the site's home page; for more search options, click the Other Searches in MoA link on the site's home page.
  • University of Wisconsin Digital Collections - The UWDC includes digital collections from University of Wisconsin libraries on a wide variety of subject areas. A complete list of the collections included and a short description of each is found under the Collections heading link.
  • Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles (Wisconsin Historical Society) - This site contains images of 16,000 articles from Wisconsin local newspapers, and a small number from other states, "preserved in scrapbooks at the Wisconsin Historical Society in the late 19th and 20th centuries." Most articles were published between 1860 and 1940.

More Web Resources

  • Librarian Selected Internet Resources: History (University Library, UW-Whitewater) - This Library web page contains links to history web sites and online Library databases that are useful for historical research. Not all of the resources on this page are useful for primary research; evaluate each resource carefully before use.
  • History Resources (History Department, UW-Whitewater) - History web sites recommended by the history faculty at UW-Whitewater. Not all of the resources on these pages are useful for primary research; evaluate each resource carefully before use.
  • Trinkle, Dennis A., and Scott A. Merriman, eds. The History Highway 3.0: A Guide to Internet Resources. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2002.
    Call number: D16.117 .H57 2002 (Circ Desk Collection)
    A good resource for finding web sites containing historical information; sites are divided into categories. Published in 2002, it is likely that some of the sites listed in this book are no longer available and/or that some URLs have changed.

Note: Information taken from the Web must be credited when used for research purposes, even if the material is considered to be in the public domain.

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Turabian Style Guide

The Library provides an online user guide on the Turabian citation style used by most history classes at UW-Whitewater. Most examples in this guide were taken from Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations 6th ed. (Ref LB2369 .T8 1996), kept at the Reference Desk in the Library.

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For additional information on primary source materials, see the UC-Berkeley Library's Library Research: Finding Primary Sources web page.