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Introduction
Archives differ from public and academic library collections in that they collect and organize original unpublished and published works such as the public and private papers of notable persons or the records of an institution and other materials (primary sources) which are unique and irreplaceable. Archives house these materials in areas that are not generally open to the public or researcher and must be retrieved by an archivist and viewed in a monitored environment.
What is a primary source?
A primary source is a firsthand account or testimony from a participant or observer to an historical event or period. They are original documentary evidence to a specific topic being researched and are of historical value. For example:
Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts
Memoirs and autobiographies
Records of organizations and agencies of government
Photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings
Artifacts of all kinds
What is a secondary source?
Secondary sources describe, interpret, and
analyze a historical event or period derived and based on primary sources the
researcher or author has used. They include books, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
textbooks, and articles that interpret or review research works.
What is a manuscript?
Unique documents written by hand or a typewriter. A manuscript can vary in length from a single note or letter to a full-length book.
How to locate primary sources at SCSU
To find primary sources in the online catalog (CONSULS) you must first identify the proper subject heading assigned by the Library of Congress. These subject headings are standardized terms developed by the Library of Congress to describe materials listed in catalogs. This listing is found in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) which is housed at the reference desk. The subject headings are the standard headings assigned and used throughout most academic libraries in the United States. Once you have identified the appropriate heading you can combine or pair that heading with specific subheadings (also listed in the LCSH) that identify materials as primary sources. For example:
correspondence
diaries
early works to 1800
interviews
pamphlets
periodicals
personal narratives
sources
united states history revolution 1775-1783 correspondence
slaveholders south carolina diaries
slavery united states early works to 1800
anarchism united states periodicals
united states civil war 1861-1865 personal narratives
How to Locate Archives and Manuscripts
Identify the primary sources for your topic. Utilize the following internet sites and list of primary source guide publications to aid you in your research. They will help you to locate libraries that house special collections in manuscripts, papers, organizational records, and ephemera or other unpublished materials. When searching in the following internet sites and databases use the specific subheadings above to locate the type of primary source you need.
Repositories of Primary Sources
www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html
This is an excellent site provided by the University of Idaho with a listing
of over 4,900 repositories worldwide. New links that have been added within
the last thirty days are marked as new. It includes a state, province
and country index and a link to the University of Idaho's Special Collections.
National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA)
www.archives.gov/index.html
A federal government agency, NARA is America's national record keeper.
It is the major repository of the government's historical records. "NARA
ensures, for the citizen and the public servant, for the President and the Congress
and the Courts, ready access to essential evidence that documents the rights
of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience."
NARA'S facilities house approximately 21.5 million cubic feet of original textual
materials -- more than 4 billion pieces of paper from all branches of government
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
(NUCMC)
http://lcweb.loc.gov/coll/nucmc
A catalog of "archival and manuscript collections in research libraries,
museums, state archive, and historical societies located throughout North America"
WorldCat
FS
*For remote access read "Connecting
From Off Campus"
This database is an online union catalog that contains over 39 million records
of books and other materials such as maps, sound recordings, musical scores,
films, archives, and computer files from academic, public, special (research,
corporate, historical societies, etc.) and national libraries from around the
world.
Library of Congress
www.loc.gov
The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution
and preserves a collection of nearly 121 million items. The library houses
the largest map, film, and television collections in the world and includes
many online and virtual exhibitions, and primary source materials on United
States history and culture that includes documents, oral histories of the WPA,
photographs, maps, motion pictures, recordings etc. Among the Manuscript
Division's holdings, available are the papers of 23 presidents ranging from
George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. Currently, all of Abraham Lincoln's
papers and a few of Theodore Roosevelt's have been placed online; eventually,
all collections will be digitized and accessible. This site is a treasure
chest of American History.
American Memory Project at the Library of
Congress
http://rs6.loc.gov
The American Memory Project offers extensive online primary source materials
on United States history and culture.
Libweb
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/
This site provides direct access to library catalogs throughout the United
States and the world.
Gabriel Gateway to Europe's National Libraries
http://portico.bl.uk/gabriel/en/welcome.html
The online services of Europe's National Libraries include: Online Public
Access Catalogues, National Bibliographies, National Union Catalogues, Indexes
to Periodical Contents, WWW services, Digital Collections, and the European
Virtual Library.
The Avalon Project at Yale
www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
This is a great site that provides connections to a wealth of documents
in law, history, and diplomacy pre-18th century to the 21st century. For
example: "1492-Privleges and Prerogatives Granted by Their Catholic
Majesties to Christopher Columbus" and "The Articles
of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England; May 19, 1643".
A very user-friendly site with loads of primary source documents.
United States Historical Census Data Browser
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census
The data presented here describe the people and the economy of the United
States for each state and county from 1790 to 1970.
Making of America (MOA)
http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/
From the University of Michigan, "a digital library of primary sources
in American social history from the antebellum period through Reconstruction."
The collection contains approximately 1,600 books and 50,000 journal articles
with nineteenth-century imprints.
Cornell Library Digital Collections (MOA)
http://moa.cit.cornell.edu
One of Cornell Library's digital collections includes the Making of America
which is comprised of the digitized pages of books and journals. You can
view scanned images of the actual pages of the 19th century texts. This
site provides access to 267 monographs and over 100,000 journal articles with
19th century imprints.
Project Gutenberg
www.promo.net/pg/
This site offers e-texts (full text) for viewing, free of charge.
Most of the texts are taken from books, published pre-1923. The titles
available are mostly classic books from the start of this century and previous
centuries from such authors as Shakespeare, Poe, Dante etc. Although most
Project Gutenberg e-texts are public domain some have copyright restrictions
(you may not be allowed to reproduce or distribute them).
History Journals Guide - WWW Virtual Library
www.history-journals.de/
An international directory of journals and discussion lists in the fields
of history and archeology. The site provides information about history
journals by title, including where they are indexed. The listing of journals
also provides links.
Archiving Early America
www.earlyamerica.com/
Although this is a commercial site it provides a unique collection of original
newspapers, maps, and writings that are viewed as they appeared to our forebears
more than 200 years ago. This site offers primary source material from
18th Century America that is displayed digitally and includes a section on how
to read a 200 year old document.
Documenting the American South
http://docsouth.unc.edu/
The American South collection offers access to digitized primary materials
with Southern perspectives on American history and culture. It currently
includes six digitization projects: slave narratives, first person narratives,
Southern literature, Confederate imprints, materials related to the church in
the black community and North Carolinian [sic]. "The texts come primarily
from the premier Southern Historical Collection and is one of the largest
collections of Southern manuscripts in the country. The North Carolina
Collection provides the most complete printed documentation of a single
state anywhere. The Rare Book Collection's Southern pamphlets collection
and Davis Library's rich holdings of printed materials on the Southeast offer
excellent coverage of the region."
The OnLine Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/index.html
This is a fascinating website with 16,000 listings that "facilitates access
to books that are freely readable over the internet" including thousands
of 19th century titles, and serial archives (magazines, journals, newspapers,
and other periodicals). It also provides links to other digitized archival
book collections.
A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents
www.law.ou.edu/hist/
Connecticut Archival and Manuscript Collections
Beinecke Library
www.library.yale.edu/beinecke
Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636-1776
www.colonialct.uconn.edu
At this site one will find the public records of the Colony of Connecticut.
Connecticut's Heritage Gateway
www.ctheritage.org
Connecticut Historical Society
www.chs.org
Connecticut History Online
www.cthistoryonline.org
Connecticut State Library
http://www.cslib.org/
Mashantucket Pequot Indian Museum &
Research Center
www.mashantucket.com
Mystic Seaport Museum
www.mysticseaport.org
New Haven Colony Historical Society
114 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06510 203-562-4183
Yale University Manuscripts & Archives
www.library.yale.edu/mssa/home1.html
The following print indexes will help you to locate journal and magazine articles written in the nineteenth and most of the twentieth century. Today, they are still utilized by historians.
The New York Times Index 1851-1929, 1939-1946, 1957-present
Personal Name Index to "The New York Times Index" 1851-1974, 1975-1984
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature 1802-1906, abridgements 1815-1904
Readers' Guide Nineteenth Century 1890-1899
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature 1899-present
Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories: In the United States
Women's History Sources
Public Opinion Polls from the Time Period
Gallup Poll Cumulative Index: Public Opinion,
1935-1997 Ref. HN 90.P8 G29 1999
Compendium of American Public Opinion Ref.
Hn 90 .P8 G56 1988
The Official Guide to American Attitudes
Ref. HN 90 .P8 M58 1996
The Gallup Poll Monthly - located in the Periodical
Room
The Gallup Report - located in the Periodical Room
LexisNexis Academic Universe - Reference - Polls & Surveys
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/
*For remote access read "Connecting
from Off Campus."
Historical Statistics of the United States,
Colonial Times to 1970, 2 vols.
Ref. HA 202.B87 1975
Colonial America to 1763
Ref. E 188.P86 1999
This is a fascinating book that contains a goldmine of statistical
data with tables, charts, maps, photographs, and illustrations including informative
essays that enhances the information presented. It is a portrayal of American
history before there was a United States. European explorers, Native Americans,
missionaries, religious and political refugees, and merchant-colonists are just
some of the people whose everyday lives are covered, from the foods they ate
to the places where they worshiped and much more. "Both
detailed and comprehensive, with a wealth of primary source material, Colonial
America to 1763 is an authoritative mine of information on the period
for the researcher and the browser alike."
Datapedia of the United States, 1790-2005:
America Year by Year
Ref. HA 202.K87 2001
"Presents the most significant historical statistics of the
United States in 23 selected areas from 1776 to 2000. In some areas, such
as demography, where projections are possible, the data are extended to 2010."
Coverage includes highlights of each category with charts in areas such as population,
vital statistics and health, migration, labor, national income and wealth, social
statistics and much more.
United States Historical Census Data Browser
1790-1960
http://fisher.lib.virginia.EDU/census
In this web site information is organized into the following categories
from the Decennial Censuses; Farming and Agriculture, General Population Characteristics,
Manufacturing, Place of Birth, and Real Estate and Taxation.
Selected Historical Census Data
www.censu.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html
From the Bureau of the Census selected historical decennial census population
and housing counts.
JSTOR
www.jstor.org/ *For
remote access read "Connecting from Off Campus."
A comprehensive full text archive of important scholarly journal literature
that dates back to 1665. JSTOR offers two categories to search for statistical
information; Population Studies and Statistics.
Historical Labor Statistics Project
http://cs.muohio.edu/Databases/Labor/
Selected detailed data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on American
labor markets between 1874 and 1920. Includes working conditions, living,
standards, and family economy.
LexisNexis Statistical Universe
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/
*For remote access read "Connecting
from Off Campus."
This database searches an index to over 100,000 statistical publications and
all of the statistics issued by the U.S. government back to 1973 including links
to web sites with statistics.
In order to assure successful use of manuscript and archival records and collections a carefully planned research strategy should be used. Following is a review of the steps you should perform:
Determine what the correct subject headings are for the topic you have chosen and that have been assigned by the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LSCH) call # Ref. Z695.Z8 L5 2001 is located at the reference desk.
Combine the subject heading with specific subheadings that identify materials as primary sources.
Search CONSULS for materials on your topic using the subject headings and subheadings for primary sources.
Decide which national or international libraries with archival and manuscript collections hold primary sources relevant to your topic. Should the particular repository not have the source(s) available online for you to review, fill out the interlibrary loan form found on the Buley Library's home page. Depending on the library's policies on photocopies, there may be a fee charged.
Allow adequate time to locate manuscripts, archives, and collections relevant to your topic including the materials to be consulted, and any interlibrary loan items you may need to request from Buley library. Keep in mind that we may not be able to obtain copies of some items because of the fragile nature of manuscript and archive collections.
Primary Source Tutorial Web Sites
The following two sites from Yale University provide an excellent overview for conducting primary source research:
Using Manuscripts & Archives
http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/tutorial/tutorial.htm
Yale University Primary Source Research
http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm
Alba Reynaga
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