Many primary sources can be found through the library's catalog. One good strategy when you are searching the library catalog is to begin with a simple keyword search to identify one or more relevant resources. Keyword terms used to find primary sources can include:
Once you identify a relevant item, use Library of Congress Subject Headings in the catalog record to narrow your search or find similar material. Subject headings are hyperlinked.
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources are raw materials of historical research - they are the documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art) but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories). You may find primary sources in their original format (usually in an archive) or reproduced in a variety of ways: books, microfilm, digital, etc.
What are Secondary Sources?
Secondary sources are more critical analysis of events, movements, battles, etc. They are created by a person or persons who has/have the necessary distance in time and involvement from the event, movement, battle, etc. to write a less personal account. Secondary sources build upon and interpret primary sources, as well as secondary sources created by others. Thus, secondary sources are second-hand accounts because their creators are one-position removed from first-hand accounts.
ProQuest Congressional Publications provides a comprehensive view of congressional action and the behind-the-scenes activity involved in crafting U.S. legislation. It includes the Congressional Research Digital Collection (CRDC), Committee Prints and CRS Reports (1824–Present), Statutes at Large (1789–present), and the Serial Set (1789–1969), and Hearings (1824-1979, 1980-2003). Includes the Federal Register & Political News. Note that not all hearings have full-text transcripts.
Tutorials:
ProQuest Congressional Publications LibGuide
Abbreviation: conguni
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1789-Current
Subjects: History, Law, Political Science, Public Administration and Policy, Public Safety and Security
Type: Government Publications
Artstor was a digital library with more than 1.5 million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
Artstor retired on August 1, 2024—all content, resources, and functionality has moved to JSTOR. For more information, see the Artstor migration guide and Artstor on JSTOR videos. Artstor content is available at Artstor on JSTOR.
The ARTstor Digital Library is used by educators, scholars, and students at a variety of institutions including universities, colleges, museums, public libraries, and K-12 schools. The Digital Library serves users both within the arts and in disciplines outside of the arts. This includes historians of art and architecture and others engaged in the visual arts, as well as individuals in fields as diverse as American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Literary Studies, Medieval Studies, Music, Religious Studies, and Renaissance Studies, all of whom find the images in ARTstor to be relevant to their teaching and research.
Tutorials:
Using ARTstor
Training videos on YouTube
Abbreviation: artstor
Vendor: ARTstor
Subjects: Archaeology, Architecture, Art Education, Art History, Art Therapy, Classics, Cultural Heritage, Interior Design, Museum Studies, Studio Art
Type: Images
In addition to the sources below, please see also:
Foreign Broadcast Information Service daily reports. Soviet Union (Foreign Broadcast Information Service)
Foreign Broadcast Information Service daily reports. Soviet Union (Foreign Broadcast Information Service)
Foreign Broadcast Information Service daily reports. Eurasia (Foreign Broadcast Information Service)
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