Primary Sources

Main Page

Secondary Sources

Scholarly Sources

Works Cited

Types of Primary Sources:

Audio Recording

Clothing, costumes

First-hand

Government Documents

Letters

Interview

Journal or diary

Song or Lyrics or Concert

Speech

Television Broadcast, TV show

Video Recording

Combine with keywords related to your topic.

Name of a person directly involved (ex. Malcolm X, MLK)
Name of a movement (ex. Civil Rights, Women's Movement)
Name of a group or organization (ex. NY Yankees, NOW)
Name of a place (ex. Little Rock, Arkansas; Normandy, France)
Name of an event (ex. Korean War, March on Washington)

Option #1: Stick to the databases to find primary sources

ABC-CLIO American History

Once you search for your topic in ABC-CLIO...

Click on FILTERS. Then select the types of sources you want under Media and/or Documents. You may want to check the following:

Photos & Illustrations
Videos
Visuals
Speeches
Political, Government and Court Documents
Cultural Documents
Letters & Narratives

Facts on File AmericanHistory

Facts on File American History Online makes it super easy...

After searching for your topic, just click on Primary Sources!

NewsBank

Or try out our newest database - NewsBank!

Directions: Browsing NewsBank Directions: Searching NewsBank

Click the search tab
Type your topic
Limit by date (just need the years)
Sort by "best match"

Option #2: Use a Video Database!

Classroom Video on Demand

How to cite your sources: ;

Remember to use the following format for sources without a citation!

Hint: this is on your Source Sheet!

For written sources (print interviews, court documents, etc)

Author/Organization. "Article Title." Source Title. Date Updated, URL. Date of Access.

YOUTUBE CITATION FORMAT:

Creator Last Name, First name. "Title of video." Youtube, uploaded by __________, date published, URL. Date accessed.

*Note: The creator may be a person (last name, first name), or an organization such as The New York Times or CNN. If the person/organization who created the video is the same as the one who published it, then skip the creator and begin the citation with the video title.

One More Place to Go = Google!

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