“Historians, however, make a serious and systematic attempt to explain the past and attempt to use the knowledge they gain to help explain human nature and contemporary affairs.”
Benjamin, J.
Student’s Guide to History p. 1

Evidence:
Anything within the range of the historian’s experience-document, opinion, monument, artifact, tradition, and so on-that can be used as a basis for statements about the past; often called “sources.”
Ritter, S.
Dictionary of Historical Concepts
Ref D 13 R49 1986 p.143

Sources are artifacts that have been left by the past. They exist either as relics, what we might call “remains,” or as the testimonies of witnesses of the past.
Howell, M & Preveinier, W.
From Reliable Sources: an introduction to
Historical Methods
D 16 .H713 2001 p. 17

Primary sources record the actual words of someone who participated in or witnessed the events described or someone who got his or her information from participants.
Benjamin, J.
Student’s Guide to History
D 16.3 .B4 2001 p. 6.

Secondary sources record the findings of someone who did not observe the event but who investigated primary evidence.
Benjamin, J.
Student’s Guide to History p. 9.

Yale University Library Primary Sources Research
Colloquium: “A primary source is firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. The nature and value of the source cannot be determined without reference to the topic and questions it is meant to answer. The same document or other piece of evidence may be a primary source in one investigation and secondary in another. The search for primary sources does not, therefore, automatically include or exclude any category of records or documents.”
Craver, K.
Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical
Thinking Skills In History
D 16.2 .C79 1999 p. 15

Books
Journals
Letters
Annals
Dissertations
Public records
Census data
Eyewitness accounts
Scripture
Inscriptions
Newspapers
Diaries
Chronicles
Government documents
Personal or institutional papers
Genealogies
Manuscripts
Laws
Scrolls
Period literature and poetry
From Using Internet Primary Sources to
Teach Critical Thinking Skills in
History Craver, Kathleen, D 16.2 .C79
1999, p.18

Speeches
Anecdotes
Sagas
Oral histories
Music
Interviews (not videotaped)
Ballads
Legends
Telephone conversations
Recordings (tape & records)
Myths
From Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in
History Craver, Kathleen, D 16.2 .C79
1999, p.19

Sculpture
Photographs
Portraits
Maps
Cartoons
Coins
Videotapes
Films
Posters
Engravings
Models & dioramas
Woodcuts
Architecture
Etchings
Relics
Historical paintings
Artifacts
Computer generated graphics
From Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in
History Craver, Kathleen, D 16.2 .C79
1999, p.19

Faxes
Electronic mail
Machine readable databases
[Web pages]
From Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History
Craver Kathleen, D 16.2 .C79 1999, p.19

History - Methodology
History - Research
D 16’s

Databases in Historical Research D 16.12 H37 1996
Image as Artifact: the historical analysis of film and television D 16.18 .I45 1990
Newspapers as Tools for Historians D 16 T22
Photographs and Local History D 16.155 O45
Public History: essays from the field D 16.163 P84
1999
Research in Archives: the use of unpublished primary sources D 16 .B87 1969

Personal narratives
Correspondence
Sources

Slavery - United States Personal narratives
Hamilton Alexander 1757-1804
Correspondence
Women – England - History –
Sources
Women’s Worlds in Seventeenthcentury England: a sourcebook
HQ 1599 .E5 W73 2000

Manuscripts
Archives
Papers
Newspapers
Pictorial Works
Cartoons

Presidents United States Manuscripts
African Americans -- California -Newspapers
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 –
Pictorial works
World War, 1914-1918 -- United States –
Caricatures and Cartoons

History web page – CSUS Primary Resources
American Periodicals 1741-1900
CSUS Historical Directory of Periodicals
Newspapers:





Sacramento Bee 1857- [indexed 1895-1935 Sacramento
Bee Historical Index]
Sacramento Union 1851 - 1906, 1968 - 1994:(1/15).
[not indexed]
Sacramento Observer 1973- [not indexed]
New York Times 1857- [indexed 1851- ]
London Times 1788 [indexed 1785- ]
Early English Books 1471-1700 [indexed]


1475 - 1640 reels 1-1979
1641 - 1700 reels 1-1786

Indexes
Large Sets

American State Papers

U.S. Foreign Relations

Congressional Record

Public Papers of the Presidents


British Parliamentary Papers
United Nations (1946-1981 Microcard; 1982 – present microfiche; selectively on the web)

Archives
Historical Books
American Memory and Making of America
Cataloged Web Sites: BUBLINK, INFOMINE,
SCOUT REPORT

BUBLINK
 History
 Internet Classics Archive