Westmoreland County Community College Library: LIBRARY: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Primary sources provide direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art.

historical and legal documents
eyewitness accounts
statistical data that has not been interpreted
pieces of creative writing
autobiographies (a person's life written by themselves)
diaries and letters
audio and video recordings
speeches
art objects
interviews
surveys
Internet communications via email, blogs, listservs, and newsgroups

Secondary sources make up most undergraduate library collections. They are books, articles or essays which discuss, analyze, criticize, interpret or review a subject or event.

These include:

most non-fiction books
most popular magazine articles
most trade publication articles
some newspaper articles
many scholarly journal articles (other than original research articles)
biographies (but not autobiographies – see above)

Tertiary sources provide overviews of topics by synthesizing information gathered from other resources. Tertiary resources often provide data in a convenient form or provide information with context by which to interpret it.

Examples include:

encyclopedias
almanacs
chronologies
textbooks
most books

Not all searches will retrieve primary source documents.

If there are any, you can use filters to find them.

Primary Sources in Credo Reference

Includes the following categories:

US History
US Culture
Canadian History
Interviews with World Leaders
Religion
Environmental Studies
Speeches
Artworks

Civil Rights (1954-2015)
Closely studies more than forty primary source documents to deliver a thorough examination of civil rights movements in the U.S. from 1954 to 2015.
Dissent & Protest (1635-2017)
Crucial documents from various protests, dissents, revolts, riots, and revolutions throughout American history, from the American Revolution to the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Environment & Conservation (1791-2015)
In-depth analysis of a broad range of historical documents and historic events that shaped environmental and conservation issues throughout the American history.
Immigration & Immigrant Communities (1650-2016)
Explores the full history of immigration issues in America, from those early immigrants making their way through Ellis Island, to immigration issues in modern society.
Women's History (1429-2017)
From the European calls for the rights of women to the modern feminist movement, these volumes provide thoughtful analysis of documents and speeches allowing readers to gain a better understanding of the roles, opinions, and changing attitudes of and toward women in world history.

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
- Expertly selected open primary source documents
- Historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom

Congress.gov
The official website for U.S. federal legislative information. Provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public.
Digital Transgender Archive
An online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
DocsTeach
Explore primary source documents from the National Archives.

Contemporary World Issues Series

Contemporary World Issues
List of both print books and eBooks in this series arranged from newest to oldest. These books include graphs, charts, and primary documents.