Primary Sources for Historical Research
Primary sources can be found in libraries, archives, and private collections throughout the world. Sometimes they are in paper, sometimes in microformat, and sometimes in digital format.
New! July 2015: AP makes one million minutes of historical footage available on YouTube
Worldcat is a global catalog of more than 1 billion items that contains descriptions of books, archives, manuscript collections, digital and audio-visual materials in libraries and other repositories around the world. Using Worldcat's ADVANCED SEARCH option you can limit your search by format, date, publication location, and many other parameters.
As more and more primary sources are being digitized, more finding aids and lists of collections can be found on the Internet.These websites can be used to search for primary sources:
Xavier University Digital Collections -- including the The Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection
Louisiana Digital Library -- Provides collections of images from Louisiana libraries, archives, museums and cultural institutions.
Archive Grid: Contains more than a million collection descriptions for primary materials housed in the US, UK, and Ireland.
Library of Congress American Memory Project: Provides access to the digital record of American history and creativity at the Library of Congress and many other institutions
National Archives "Getting Started with Primary Source Research"
European Library- Provides free international online access to holdings, maps, photographs, music, and digitized materials from 48 national libraries in Europe. Resources can be both digital (books, posters, maps, sound recordings, videos, etc.) and bibliographical