Often, the best work arises from close engagement with a primary source. As you read, you'll think of questions or begin to shape an argument. The hard part is to find a primary source that addresses the broad general area of interest. Here are some strategies for finding primary sources:
Adam Matthew, Gale, Proquest, and Readex provide a large portion of our online primary source materials. Each company has created a consolidated search engine which allows you to search all of the materials they provide.
AM explorer (Adam Matthew)
Gale Primary Sources (Gale)
Proquest History (Proquest)
Readex AllSearch (Readex)
A collaborative project to preserve and disseminate African cultural materials. Materials come from archives and libraries from across Africa.
full-text digital resource exploring the histories and contemporary cultures of the indigenous peoples of the United States.
Steadily growing repository containing a previously unavailable subset of Princeton’s Latin American Ephemera Collection as well as newly acquired materials being digitized and added on an ongoing basis.
Policy Commons preserves and provides access to more than 30 million pages of curated policy reports and briefs, analyses, working papers, books, case studies, tables, charts, media, and statistical publications created by 25,000 policy organizations (NGOs, IGOs, foundations, think tanks, government agencies, etc.) from around the world. Platform provides multiple filters and advanced searching operators.
If microfilm, microfiche, or other microfomat materials (commonly called "microforms") are unfamiliar, learn more about the Microforms Service in Firestone Library. Microforms staff are available for assistance with material retrieval and equipment use during the service's hours of operation.