Finding Primary Source Documents in the IMC
Books and Recordings -- Searching the Catalog
There are many volumes of primary source material in the Middle School libraries. Try the following strategies to locate the ones you need.
Go to the IMC catalog
Select the Power search tab
Enter your topic in the first box, and one of the terms below in the second box:
sources
personal narratives
documents
correspondence
interviews
speeches
primary
Choose your school from the drop down box
Try at least two searches, one with "sources" and one with "personal narratives" (the other terms are optional)
Note that the terms above are the best ones for searching a library catalog, and they are slightly different from the best terms for searching the web.
Example: use "sources" in the catalog, but "primary sources" on the web.
Also try an Author Search to find writings by people relevant to your topic, e.g. Lincoln for the Civil War
Finding Primary Sources Online
Databases
Annals of American History, from Britannica
Primary source documents from Colonial times to the present. Search by keyword or browse by topic or date.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers - articles from 1849-2012
These subscription databases contain primary source documents as well as secondary source articles from reference books, periodicals, and elsewhere. [access from home]
Search normally, then click to narrow results:
Issues & Controversies in American History
Look for "Primary Sources" on the left navigation menu within your topic.
This subscription database contains primary source documents as well as secondary source articles and analysis.
Web Collections of Primary Source Documents
American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html
From the Library of Congress, this ever-expanding collection covers all periods of U.S. history. Note that the "documents" may be images as well as text.
Annotated links to specialized collections within American Memory are available from ipl.org. [curriculum connections]
National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/
National Archives' search engine: http://research.archives.gov/search
ipl.org's annotated lists of selected National Archives collections
Core Documents of U.S. Democracy - http://www.gpo.gov/libraries/core_docs.htm
Supreme Court decisions, bills, executive orders & proclamations, U.S. code, and famous historical documents from the Articles of Confederation forward
World War I Document Archive - http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
Assembled by volunteers from the World War I Military History List (WWI-L) online discussion group; hosted by Brigham Young University.
see also: http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/wwi/wwi.html
World War II Resources - http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/
Over 10,000 pages of text reproduced here.
See also: Historic Government Publications from World War II from SMU
New Deal Document Library - http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/
Large, categorized collection of primary source texts, photos, and cartoons.
Many (but not all) government documents are primary sources. See, for instance, the "CIA's Popular Documents" and "Government Documents in the News."