In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
Formats of Primary Sources
- Personal records or documents: diaries, journals, letters, manuscripts, speeches, emails, blog posts, and papers
- Autobiographies and memoirs
- Government documents and records, proceedings & meeting minutes, internal memos
- Published materials: books, magazine and journal articles, reports, blog posts, wiki entries, newspaper articles written at the time
- Visual Materials/Creative Works: photographs, paintings, sculptures, films, video recordings, plays, scripts
- Artifacts: physical objects from that time, such as clothes, furniture, toys, and buildings
Finding Primary Sources in the Library Catalogue
Try a keyword search in the library catalogue combining your subject with words that identify a particular genre:
- correspondence, letters, papers
- diaries, journals, manuscripts
- personal narratives, oral histories
- interviews, transcripts
- sources
- travel writing, travelogue