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Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

A primary source is "first-hand" information, sources as close as possible to the origin of the information or idea under study. Primary sources are contrasted with secondary sources, works that provide analysis, commentary, or criticism on the primary source. In literary studies, primary sources are often creative works, including poems, stories, novels, and so on. In historical studies, primary sources include written works, recordings, or other source of information from people who were participants or direct witnesses to the events in question. Examples of commonly used primary sources include government documents, memoirs, personal correspondence, oral histories, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

Find databases containing Primary Sources for research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.

Locating Primary Sources in the Library Catalog

 

By using a proper search strategy, you can find Primary Source material at Pepperdine University Libraries and over 70,000 libraries worldwide.

Search by people who witnessed or participated in an event:

  • Harry Truman
  • Leon Trotsky
  • Jackie Robinson
  • Bartolome De Las Casas
  • Jesse Owens
  • Saint Augustine

The Library of Congress assigns subject headings that are useful terms to add to your search for primary sources:

  • correspondence
  • diaries
  • interviews
  • pamphlets
  • personal narratives
  • sources
  • biography (An autobiography is a primary source.)
  • oral history

Please note: books with the phrase "documentary history" in the title often contain primary sources.

Try limiting your search to books that were written at the time of the historical event to target primary sources.