Primary Sources - Basics - HIST 1010 - Introduction to Historical Skills - Research Guides at University of Northern Iowa

Five Primary Source Options to Begin Your Research

"Primary sources are those texts and objects that come to us from the time period of interest".
- Lipartito, Kenneth. "Historical Sources and Data." Organizations in Time: History, Theory, Methods (2014): 284-304.

The library catalog (One Search) and the newspaper and magazine databases listed are a good place to begin searching for primary sources. The Primary Sources - Advanced option will provide additional primary source options based on time period, location, and social groups.

OneSearch
UNI search engine for books and articles. For books change the "Material Type" option from "All items" to "Books" to turn OneSearch into the library catalog and look for books owned by Rod Library. To find primary materials set your search or results ("Publication Date") to the specific years of your study. Recently published books may also contain primary source material in the form of quotes, diaries, and letters.

Historical Periodical Collection (1684-1850)
Search for primary sources from 1684 to 1850.
British and American newspaper and magazine articles.

New York Times (1851-present)
Articles from 1851 to the present.
Searches can be limited by date.
Results can be limited to articles, editorials, cartoons, advertisements.

New York Times - TimesMachine
Create a New York Times All Access Academic Pass and then browse the New York Times by date using the TimesMachine.

Newspaper Archive (1607-present)
Very good for local and regional U.S. and Iowa news. Coverage varies by year and location. Use the "Advanced Search" option beneath the search blanks. Advanced Search will allow you to limit by date and geographic location.

Time Magazine Archive (1923-2000)
Time Magazine covered both national and international news through much of the 20th century.

Need more primary sources? Head to the Advanced Methods page!
The Primary Sources - Advanced Resources page provides access to many more primary source options based on the time period, location, and social group of interest.