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HIS 298 Queer Histories - Challenge Seminar: Primary Sources for HIS 298

Overview

The Library provides access to a number of primary sources. Browse the categories and options below. You can also consult our Guide to Primary Sources for even more information.

A New Era For Women Workers, Minority Women and Lesbians, from the Library of Congress

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Selected Primary Sources

There is no singular portal for searching for primary sources. Below is a selected list of primary source collections that may be relevant to your research.

College and Lutheran Church Archives

Primary? Secondary?

The term "primary source" is defined differently by various disciplines.

  • In the humanities, a primary source is a historical document, such as a diary, memoir, a work of art, a news account published when an event was fresh - something from the historical period under examination.
  • In the sciences, a primary source is a scientist's write-up of their research that includes their methods and results, as opposed to science journalism or a summary of research (a "review article") that has been conducted to provide an overview of research on a given topic.

A secondary source is one that has already been analyzed by someone else. There are also tertiary sources, such as a textbook or encyclopedia, that summarizes knowledge in general terms.

Primary sources help a researcher get as close as possible to the subject under examination. They can point your reader to the raw materials of your ideas and provide an opportunity for you to do your own, original analysis. For more about primary sources, check out our guide to primary sources available in our library.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0