What Is a Primary Source?
Primary sources are "first-hand" information, sources as close as possible to the origin of the information or idea under study. Primary sources are contrasted with secondary sources, works that provide analysis, commentary, or criticism on the primary source.
In art, literature, and cultural studies, primary sources include original creative works, such as paintings, architectural plans, music, poems, novels, movies, television shows, and even advertisements.
In historical studies, primary sources include written works, recordings, or other sources of information from people who were participants or direct witnesses to the events in question. Examples of commonly used historical primary sources include government documents, memoirs, personal correspondence, oral histories, and contemporary newspaper accounts.
In the sciences, primary sources are usually articles or data resulting directly from experiments, fieldwork, or clinical trials.
Note that the "primacy" of a source can be relative. In cases where original records were lost or a live performance was never recorded, a review or commentary from a third party may be the most primary source available.
- What is primary research and how do I get started?The OWL at Purdue has a helpful page about primary resources.
- Primary vs. Secondary Sources VideoThis short video uses the Apollo 11 mission to describe the difference between primary and secondary sources.
Enjoy this video introduction to UCLA Library Special Collections!
Primary Sources
These are just a few primary source collections where you might find material about working women. Once you click on the link to the website, you can search for combinations of terms such as "working women" AND "sexual harassment" or women AND labor. You can find more sources on the research guide for Gender.
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Full text of more than 1000 open access alternative publications from the 1960s-1980s covering feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Latinos, LGBTQ+ activists, and more.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new windowA collection of books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women's reform activities.
- Discovering American Women's History OnlineBrings together hundreds of primary source digital collections covering U.S. women’s history.
Other Primary Sources
The following collections include primary source material. They are only the tip of the iceberg of primary sources available to you online. The research guide for Primary Resources and Archives leads to general categories and locations of these resources.
- The Asian American Experience This link opens in a new windowPart of ABC-CLIO's American Mosaic, The Asian American Experience offers a rich and diverse variety of primary sources, including images, audio clips, documents, and video, covering multiple dimensions of Asian American history and culture.
- Calisphere This link opens in a new windowOver one million photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more from the collections digitized and contributed by all ten campuses of the University of California and other important libraries, archives, and museums throughout the state.
- Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: A Selection of Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowOpen access selection of primary source documents including historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more that highlight the triumphs and resiliency of African Americans in the pursuit of equality through six periods of history.
- Indigenous Peoples of North America (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowCross-searches collections from the U.S. and Canada, including manuscripts, book collections, newspapers from various tribe and Indian-related organizations, materials such as Bibles, dictionaries and primers in Indigenous languages. Covers 17th-20th centuries. UCLA provides access to Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part I and Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II: The Indian Rights Association, 1882-1986.
- Latino American Experience This link opens in a new window
Focuses on the history and culture of Latinos living in the United States. Its content spans from the pre-Columbian indigenous civilizations of the Americas, through the Spanish and Mexican settlement of much of what is now the United States.
- Political Extremism and Radicalism (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowPrimary source documentation of 20th Century (1900s-2010s) fringe groups from both the right and left of the political spectrum in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Supports researchers addressing historical questions on philosophical, social, political, and economic ideologies as well as on contemporary issues surrounding gender, sexuality, race, religion, civil rights, universal suffrage, and more. UCLA subscribes to parts I and II.
Content note: this database contains visual and textual material representing various historical viewpoints related to race, gender, sexuality, terrorism, and other subjects, including terminology and concepts that may be considered offensive by modern standards. These materials are provided for academic research and teaching purposes.