Remember that your best source of help is the librarian at the Information Desk in the Library. You may call or email the Information Desk at: 315-312-4267 or askalibrarian@oswego.edu.

Sometimes your professor will require that you use primary sources. As the name implies, these are sources of first-hand or original information. Some possible sources of primary documents are personal papers, institutional records, business records, newspapers, local government records and state or federal records. Examples include diaries and memoirs, birth certificates, tax documents, annual reports, photos, obituaries, speeches, maps, police and court reports, government bills and laws, court cases, letters, artifacts, etc. There are many more examples.

Often, primary source material is located within the text of other books and materials that may have quoted from it. It is not always obvious that this material is contained within a text, and one must browse through the books to locate these quotes or other primary source materials. Use the bibliographies of the books and journals you do have to locate other primary sources.

Finding primary sources using the catalog may be accomplished by putting in keywords such as "sources", "diaries", "personal narratives", "correspondence", "letters", "autobiography", "reports", "description and travel", and "statistics". These may then be combined with a subject search or another keyword search in the area of interest to you. When searching in online journal databases or on the Internet, combine some of the words suggested above with a keyword or words in the subject area of interest to you. Use the word AND to combine terms (example: diaries AND civil war).

Selected Primary Sources from the Library Catalog Choose REFINE from above this list and ADD YOUR SPECIFIC SUBJECT.

For Primary Sources in Magazines and Newspapers

For Primary Sources in Digital Libraries