Search & Find

What are primary sources? Finding Primary Sources on the Web? Evaluating primary sources

An instructional page about how to identify, find and evaluate primary sources.

The Making of the Modern World Part I: The Goldsmiths' - Kress Collection, 1450-1850
Documents the dynamics of Western trade and wealth that shaped the world from the last half of the 15th century to the mid-19th century and provides full-text searching of rare books and primary source materials from Harvard Univeristy and the University of London collections.

UA Library Catalog ^Guide

• On the keyword search page, type your major search topic into the top line.
• In second line change “Any Field” to "Subject.”

• Type any of the following into the Search Box:
  Sources, Interviews, Personal Narratives, statistics, diaries, correspondence, biography, Archives . Please note, “biography” includes both autobiographies and secondary works.
• You can search more than one of these by putting "or" between words. e.g. sources or personal narratives or interviews.
• Autobiographical information can be found by changing “Any Field” to "AUTHOR" and typing in the name of the person.

ARTstor ^Guide

This non-profit repository contains hundreds of thousands of digital images and related data and the tools to actively use those images. Images are contained that are relevant to the times and place of this period.

British History on-line

British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. It was created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust.

Early English Books Online (EEBO) ^Guide

Full digitization of all books and other publications in English from 1475-1700.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) ^Guide

Full digitization of books and other publications in English 1700-1800 (few American publications- see Evans Digital Edition for American Imprints)

Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online, 1543-1945

A full text database containing a wide range of unique materials about women and their lives from an international perspective. Focuses primarily on the US, British Isles, and Western Europe. Some material in languages other than English.

See also Tips for Gerritsen Collection.

In the First Person

English language personal narratives, including letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories.

Microfilm collections for European History

Microfilm collections for European History of primary documents at the University of Arizona Library.

Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, a

Letters, dairies, memoirs and accounts of early encounters between Europeans and Native Americans, 1650-1700. Focus on encounters throughout North American and the Caribbean.

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries

The letters and diaries of 91 women. Biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography are included,1500 -1900. Collection continues to grow.

EuroDocs

Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe.
Selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations.

Library of Latin Texts

The majority of the editions are from Corpus Christianorum but other sources drawn upon include Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiastorum Latinorum, Sources Chretiennes, Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Prima, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Acta Sanctorum and other miscellaneous texts. Also includes texts from the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

Monastic MATRIX

A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities, 500-1600

Monumenta Germaniae Historica.

The free online version is not complete, being updated. The text is in OCR which may contain some character recognition errors, but is considered to be of excellent value for historians. The Library has these in paper format as well under various call numbers. A wide array of primary source material for the period of 500-1500 for areas which experienced strong Germanic influence.

Post-Reformation Digital Library

A collection of resources relating to the development of theology during the Post-Reformation/early modern era (ca. 16th-18th c.), hosted by the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies of Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary.