Political Science

Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later. Primary sources are characterized by their content, regardless of whether they are available in original format, in microfilm/microfiche, in digital format, or in published format. Primary sources in political science can be found in the Libraries Special Collections Department, the Libraries' print and microfilm collections, electronic databases to which the Libraries subscribe, and on the Internet.

Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later. Primary sources are characterized by their content, regardless of whether they are available in original format, in microfilm/microfiche, in digital format, or in published format. Primary sources in political science can be found in the Libraries Special Collections Department, the Libraries' print and microfilm collections, electronic databases to which the Libraries subscribe, and on the Internet.

The Library owns or subscribes to various types of published materials which can be used as primary sources.  These include:

• Books published at the time, or later as reprints, or containing published versions or collections of letters, diaries, etc.
• Government documents, such as debates of the House of Commons, Royal Commissions, etc.
• Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, etc.)
• Specialized Collections (Microform), such as Acts of the Privy Council of England : new series [1542-1628.]
  

  One approach is to use one of the following subject terms or phrases when searching the Library Catalog:

• Budget of the United States Government    
  Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY Documents -- PREX2.8:
• Congressional Pictorial Dictionary   
• Economic Report of the President    Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- PREX1.1: Contains very useful statistical tables section.
  Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- Y4.P93/1: 1p/
• Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (GPO site)    
  Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY --Documents -- AE2.114:
• Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (University of Michigan Library site)    
  Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- AE2.114: This site goes back to the first papers- further than the GPO site, listed above.
• Weekly Compilation of Presidental Documents    
  The official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary, updated every Monday. Also available in STROZIER LIBRARY -- Documents -- AE2.109: