Challenge Library Guide for HST102/WL204 - Balzer/Pommer - Clackamas: What are Primary/Secondary Sources?
Primary Source Collections on Europe
- British PatheConsists of the archive of the British Pathe news corporation from 1896 to 1970. The archive covers history, social history, sports, news, and entertainment. Closed captions are not available.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO)Offers full text digital facsimiles of titles from the earliest printed works in the English language.
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineIncludes full text of important printed works published in the United Kingdom between 1701 and 1800, along with important works from the Americas.
- Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. JacobsIncludes digitized books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights in the US, Europe, and around the world. Materials date from 1534 to 1945, with especially strong coverage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Making of the Modern WorldArchives books or monographs on economics and business published from 1450 through 1850. Includes materials on commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade, and transport.
- Medieval Travel WritingFeatures digitized medieval manuscripts of important European travel writing from the later Medieval period, focusing on travels from Europe to the Holy Land, India, and China. Includes travel maps.
- Romantic Era RedefinedFeatures the full text of Romantic-era literature focusing on poetry, prose, drama, letters, and diaries along with political, philosophical, scientific, and sociological works between 1800 and 1830.
International Primary Source Collections with European Content
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineIncludes full text of important printed works published in the United Kingdom between 1701 and 1800, along with important works from the Americas.
- Empire OnlineFind primary source documents on colonial history, politics, and culture from 1492 to 2007, primarily about the British Empire, especially Africa, the Americas, Australia, Oceania, and South Asia.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social JusticeArchives primary source documents for the study of slavery and abolition with materials from Africa, the Caribbean, the U.S., Latin America, and Europe from 1490 to 2007.
Search for Resources Tutorial
Check the Table of Contents of this tutorial for the section on primary resources. It will only take you a few minutes to review, and it may help you to further contextualize the use of primary sources.
Primary vs Secondary Sources Video (Vermont Tech, Hartness Library 2017)
Primary Sources on the Web
Many libraries, museums, and archives have digitized their historic documents and put them online in digital libraries. Here are some large collections (and links to other large collections) you may want to explore.
The image at right is an illuminated page in Javanese script from a chronicle of a Javanese court in Yogyakarta, via the World Digital Library.
- Digital ScriptoriumA growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.
- EuroDocsAn extensive list, by country, of websites with European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated.
- World Digital LibrarySignificant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. Browse by time, place, topic, type of item, and more.
- The Avalon Project : Documents in Law, History and DiplomacyThe Avalon Project mounts digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.
- Ruprecht-Karl-Universität Heidelberg--Digital CollectionsDigitized manuscripts, charters, incunabula, local histories of the Palatinate, university documents, etc. from the University's collections.
- Oxford Digital LibraryGeneral access point to all digital collections at Oxford University.
- British Library--Digitised ManuscriptsThe 'Digitised Manuscripts' section of The British Library website provides access to fully digitised manuscripts held at the Library and their descriptions.
- Danish Royal Library--E-manuscript collectionThe Royal Library in Copenhagen publishes selected parts of its collections on the Internet. Since 1997 the Manuscript Department has published complete digital facsimile editions of manuscripts.
- e-codices: Virtuelle Handschriftenbibliothek der SchweizSwiss virtual manuscript library.
- EuroDocsAn extensive list, by country, of websites with European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated.
- European History Primary SourcesPrimary sources in European history compiled by the European University Institute
- Gallica: The National Library of FranceThe digital collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
- Flickr CommonsOffers public domain photographs and other photographs from national and international libraries, museums, archives, and cultural institutions.