Citation Resources
The most often used citation style for History is:
Chicago Manual of Style Online
Organize your sources using Zotero.
What are primary sources?
Primary sources are documents or artifacts created by eyewitnesses or participants present at an event. Some examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, advertisements, editorials, political cartoons, government documents, legislation, maps, oral histories, interviews, novels, plays, music, and many other things. These items can be found in many of the library's databases and on websites from museums, archives, libraries, and government agencies.
Why should I use primary sources?
- Get first-person accounts from eyewitnesses and participants
- Supports original historical research
- Gives voice to individuals not always included in the historical record
Books written by scholars are a good source of information for many topics. Memoirs, autobiographies, diaries, and similar items give first-person accounts of events and experiences.
Search Belk Library's online system or use the following resources to find primary source books, government documents, reports, and other items.
Be sure to speak with a librarian if you don't find what you need. They will be able to suggest other sources of information to help with your research needs.
Find Primary Source Books:
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowHathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Includes Primary Source books and documents
- Internet ArchiveInternet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, and more.
- Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg offers over 54,000 free eBooks. Select free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online.
- Google BooksIndex of full-text books
Use these resources to find historical newspaper articles online.
Why You Should Use Them:
- Newspaper articles may be considered a primary source if written at the time an event occurred
- May include eyewitness or firsthand accounts of events
- Frequently include other primary source objects like photographs, editorials, political cartoons, letters to the editor, advertisements, etc.
Find Historical Newspaper Articles:
- The Times Digital Archive (London) This link opens in a new windowThe Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of the Times, one of the most highly regarded resources for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century news coverage, with every page of every issue from 1785 to 2012. (Primary Source)
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index This link opens in a new windowAccess to the archives of The New York Times (1851-2019)
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post This link opens in a new windowAccess to the archives of The Washington Post (1877-2007)
- Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new windowHistorical newspapers from across the United States and beyond. Obituaries. Photos. Access 575+ million pages. Articles. From the 1700's to 2000's. Great for history and genealogy research.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersDigital collection from the Library of Congress that allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1860-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Find Additional Historical Newspapers:
The following is a selective list of library databases that contain primary source content. Many of these databases feature a specific type of content or focus on a particular time period or subject.
Be sure to speak with a librarian if you don't find what you need. They will be able to suggest other sources of information to help your research needs.
Selected Primary Source Databases:
- Revolution in Mexico, the 1917 Constitution, and Its Aftermath: Records of the U.S. State Department"This collection of U.S. State Department records consists of political and military documents relating to the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath -1910-1924. These unique and insightful records provide an unprecedented look at the Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910 and continued sporadically until the new Constitution was adopted in 1917, through to and including the election of Calles."
- Foreign Relations of the United States"The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity."
- U.S. Department of State. Office of the HistorianProvides digital access to volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series from 1945 to 1980.
- ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new windowProvides access to detailed archival collection descriptions. It includes descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide,
- North American Women's Letters & Diaries This link opens in a new windowPublished letters and diaries depicting the personal experiences of hundreds of women. Colonial times to 1950.
- U.S. Serial Set This link opens in a new windowA collection of U.S. Government publications compiled under directive of the Congress. Includes Congressional Hearings. Coverage 1789-present.
Use internet resources as a starting point to find relevant content online from libraries, museums, archives, government agencies, and organizations.
Why You Should Use Them:
- Use to locate reports, statistics, data, newspapers, and primary source content
- Use content produced by government agencies, reputable organizations, museums, archives, and libraries
- Resources may link to additional websites and resources
Be sure to speak with a librarian if you don't find what you need. They will be able to suggest other sources of information to help your research needs.
Find Internet Resources:
- A Nation Emerges: 65 Years of Photography in Mexico"Photographs of Mexico from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century from the special collections of the Getty Research Institute."
- California Digital Newspaper Collection"Freely accessible repository of digitized California newspapers from 1846 to the present."
- Handbook of Latin American Studies Online (HLAS Online)Published since 1936 by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress, HLAS Online is an annotated bibliography of scholarly works on Latin America.
- Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press"The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s."
- Mexico: Photographs, Manuscripts, and ImprintsProvides digital access to some of the items relating to Mexico that are held in Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library.
- South Texas Border, 1900–1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon CollectionCollection of 8,000 photographs taken by the commercial photographer Robert Runyon during the early 20th century and housed at the University of Texas at Austin.
- Whelan Collection of Mexican Revolution PhotographsThis collection of 300 photographs is located in the Texas A&M University Archives.
- Portal to Texas HistoryCreated by the University of North Texas libraries, this website serves as a gateway to materials related to Texas history including selected newspapers.