Library Skills: Finding Primary Sources
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Finding Primary Sources
Microform
Archives
Maps and Government Publications
Media
Online Resources
Finding Primary Sources
Most good history writing relies on a combination of primary and secondary sources. While you will not usually be required
to use primary sources in your first year essays (although you are encouraged to use them if you wish), they are frequently
required in upper year History courses. Primary sources can be found throughout the library - in the stacks, but also on
microform, in the archives, as media, in the government documents and maps section of the library, and online.
Primary Sources
In history, a primary source is usually an original document that was created in the time period you are studying and
represents first-hand experience. It could be a ledger of a business, a book written during the period, a diary, letters,
audiotapes, photographs, government documents, public records, statistics, letters, diaries, manuscripts, interviews, eyewitness accounts, political cartoons, newspaper announcements and articles, artwork, maps, charts, meeting minutes,
songs, or original works of literature - anything that was current and original at the time being studied. It might not be
published. It might be included in a book about the topic. It might be online. Primary sources provide the raw evidence for
your argument. In general, a primary source is information, an artefact, creative work, or document without any
accompanying interpretation.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are books or articles that analyze and interpret historical events. The authors of secondary sources use a
combination of primary sources and other secondary sources to build an argument about the particular event they are
examining. The author of a secondary text is generally not responding to an immediate event or problem. Rather, the
author is looking at the event from some distance. Examples of secondary works include journal articles or chapters in
scholarly books, monographs (i.e. book-length works on a scholarly subject), but also textbooks, encyclopedias, websites although these last three are not usually considered reliable scholarly sources (see the section entitled What are Scholarly
Sources? for more on how to determine if a source is acceptable for an academic essay). Secondary sources can provide
you with general knowledge and specific details about your subject, but more importantly, they can suggest different ways
to interpret your subject. Often the authors of secondary sources will disagree on how to interpret a historical event. You
must read these sources critically. In your essay, you can use secondary sources either to offer a contrary point of view that
you want to challenge or to back up your own argument. When you use secondary sources in an essay, you are, in a sense,
entering into a dialogue with other authors and commenting on primary material indirectly.
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Microform / Microfiche
A large number of primary sources have been preserved on microform (either microfilm or microfiche). Microforms contain
text or images that are greatly reduced in size, allowing a full book, newspaper, or journal to be included in a small area. A
machine called a "reader" is needed to magnify the text for viewing, and these readers can also produce photocopies.
Microforms and microform readers are located in the Microform Reading Room on the 2nd (Main) Floor of the library. Many
of the items available on microform are not available online, such as local papers from across Canada, and specialty
historical newspapers or periodicals such as The Boston news-letter (Boston, Mass. : 1704-1776) which is of special interest
to those studying piracy. You can also find meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, pamphlets, and many other valuable
primary sources. Items on microform are identified in TOPCAT by location and a special call number that is used to locate
the item. Alternatively, you can search specifically for items on microform using the Power Search
and selecting "Microforms" in the "Location" menu.
option in TOPCAT
Newspapers and Periodicals on Microform
Trent University keeps a large selection of historical newspapers and periodicals on microform. Click here for a complete list
of newspapers available on microform. As primary sources, these can provide valuable insight into events and attitudes of
the past. Finding relevant articles within historical newspapers and periodicals, however, can be challenging. Libris
Canadiana is a searchable online index for some of the newspapers available on microform, but for the most part, searching
for articles within historical newspapers and periodicals is done by going through them a page at a time on the microform
reader. Please note: Libris Canadiana is a subscription-based resource: You must be logged in to your myTrent account to
access it.
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Archives
The Trent University Archives offers a wide variety of primary sources for research. Archival materials are different from
books. Unlike books, they are unpublished, primary, and unique. Archives may may consist of correspondence, journals,
diaries, minutes, literary manuscripts, deeds or other land records, wills, marriage contracts, ledgers or day books, maps,
sketches, broadsides, advertising flyers, architectural drawings, cassette or video recordings, micro-format records,
electronic media, photographs, and more. Items found in the archives are identified by location in TOPCAT as either
"Archives" or "Special Collections." Unlike books, archival materials do not circulate; they must be used in the archives
Reading Room on the ground floor of the Trent library.
Searching within the Archives
Archive materials are not organized by subject. Instead, items related to a particular creator are kept together in what is
known as a fond, since the significance of the items in the collection, or fond, is affected by the context of the collection as
a whole. Digital finding aids have been created for most of the items, making it possible to search for relevant items online.
Click here to search the archives collection. Click here for a list of newspapers available in the archives.
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Maps and Government Publications
Maps and government publications are two additional types of primary sources available to you in the Trent Library. Both
are located on the 4th floor.
Maps
Trent Library's Map Collection is made up of many different types of maps and other geographical tools. The collection
covers mainly Canadian material, but other countries are well represented. With the exception of some special collections,
maps may be borrowed for one week. Map Section materials may be searched by Author, Title, or Subject in TOPCAT. The
"Power Search"
option in TOPCAT is one of the best ways to locate maps. Select "Maps" under the "Format" menu.
Maps are filed in special cabinets by material type, followed by call number and , where applicable, further by index sheet
number. For more information on how to locate maps, see the Guide to the Trent Library Map Collection.
Government Publications
Government documents are publications produced in any format (eg. paper, microform, video cassette tape, audio tape,
computer disc, etc.) and issued under the authority of the government or one of its agencies. The term "government" is
used to mean government at any level, and includes national, provincial/state, regional, municipal, etc. Trent's Government
Publications Section houses Canadian, British and American government publications. Government publications may be
searched using Author, Title or Call Number searches in TOPCAT. The “Power Search” option is highly recommended.
Government publications are shelved alphabetically by country, within country by level of government, within level of
government by department and branch. For more information on how to locate government publications, see the Guide to
the Trent Library Government Publications Collection.
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Media
Both primary and secondary sources can be found in Trent's media collection. Trent’s media collection comprises
approximately 3000 titles in various formats including DVDs, CDs, and VHS tapes. Titles are available for classroom viewing
or individual study. The media collection is searchable through TOPCAT, either through regular alphabetical or keyword
searches, or by selecting the "Power Search"
option, and specifying "Media" in the "Format" menu. Items in Trent's
media collection are identified in TOPCAT by type and location.
Media resources can be picked up at the circulation desk. Media can be borrowed for 1 night by undergraduate students.
Faculty, Graduate Students, and Staff have a 1-week loan period. If you wish to use the resource in a classroom
presentation, it is a good idea to book it online through TOPCAT, to ensure that it will be available on that day.
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Online Resources
In addition to these physical media, Trent offers a number of online resources for the History student. Many of these
resources are subscription-based, and not available to the general public via the internet. To access these resources you
must be logged in to your myTrent account.
Books
Online books can be found through TOPCAT. Click the "Connect" button in the catalogue listing to connect. Two "Connect"
buttons means the resource is available on two different servers, so if one is slow or busy, you can try connecting through
the other. Google Books can also give you access to many older, out-of-print publications.
Newspapers
In addition to the newspapers found on microform and in the archives, a number of newspapers are available online. The
Globe and Mail offers a searchable database of articles going back to 1844 as does The Times of London (going back to
1785), and The Toronto Star (going back to 1894). Canadian Newsstand is a searchable database for 21 major newspapers
across Canada, but only for articles published in the last couple of decades. Please note: These are subscription-based
resources not available to the general public. You must be logged in to your myTrent account to access these and all other
subscription-based resources. Click here for these and other online newspapers you have access to as a Trent student.
Media
Trent University subscribes to a number of media-streaming sites, searchable through online databases. Artstor, for
example, is a digital library (subscription-based) of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the
humanities, and social sciences. The National Film Board of Canada also offers a searchable database of its collection, much
of which can be viewed online. Click here for a complete list of online media databases available through Trent.
Specialized Online Collections of Primary Resources
There are a number of specialized collections of primary materials and historical works online, available through the Trent
library website. Examples include Early Canadiana Online (a full text online collection of books and pamphlets documenting
Canadian history from the first European contact to the late 19th century), Early English Books Online (digital facsimile page
images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English
printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser
and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War), the British House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (over
200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688), and
Medieval Travel Writing (manuscripts of some of the most important works of European travel writing from the later
medieval period). Select "E-Resources" from the left-hand column of the myLibrary page, and choose "Full Text & Primary"
from the banner at the top for a full list of available collections.
For a comprehensive list of e-resources for the History student, please see the History Subject Guide on the library website.
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