Use keywords when you don't have a specific primary source in mind. For search terms, use your subject plus addition words like "primary sources," "photographs," "oral histories," or "digital collections."
If you know the specific primary source your are interested in, enter the title in quotes.
For famous primary sources, include the title in quotation marks and the word text or transcript.
History research typically requires you to consult primary source materials. Unfortunately, there is no one place to find primary sources, where to find primary sources is dependent on your topic.
While there isn't one place to locate primary sources, there are a few different types of places you will use to find primary sources. This guide will introduce how to use the following tools to identify primary sources:
Library databases
the Open Web, Internet, Google, etc.
Special Collections and Archives (including the College Archives at SMC)
Newspapers are excellent resources for identifying primary sources. Many newspaper archives are only available through subscriptions. You will need your SMC login to access these newspapers if you are off campus.
Many primary sources are found online through digital collections at colleges and universities, records from government organizations, or personal collections of historians and scholars.
An Internet search on just about any topic will bring up thousands of images and information, but the challenge is finding one from a reputable source that you can use and cite confidently. Images from a government, library, museum, or university website are often more reputable sources than those on a commercial or personal website.
Archives are collections of original unpublished, historical and contemporary material – in other words, primary sources!
The Bay Area is home to many colleges, universities, and cultural heritage institutions that have special collections and archives available for public use. While many institutions provide access to some content online, there is often more to be discovered when visiting these institutions in person.
When visiting any archive or special collection, make sure that you are prepared by:
The Saint Mary’s College Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to records, publications, and other documents pertaining to the history of the College.
The College Archives was created to collect and preserve these documents and to serve the research needs of the College community and the public. The collections include documents dating from the founding of the College in 1863 in San Francisco, through its relocation to the “Brickpile” campus in Oakland in 1889, to its move to the Moraga campus in 1928 and up to the present.
Typical topics for research in the College Archives include:
The College Archives is located on the third floor of Saint Albert Hall Library. Access the the College Archives is available by appointment only. Email the College Archives at archives@stmarys-ca.edu.
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