GSU Library Research Guides: HIST 8885: Theory and Practice of Digital History: Primary Sources

What Are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are the raw materials of historical research - they are the documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art) but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories). You may find primary sources in their original format (usually in an archive) or reproduced in a variety of ways: books, microfilm, digital, etc.

In contrast...

Secondary sources are interpretations of events written after an examination of primary sources and usually other secondary sources, such as books and journal articles.

When you write a research paper, you are creating a secondary source!

Use GILFind to Find

- all types of published primary sources - books, periodicals, government documents, maps, art, microfilm, etc.

- material located in GSU special collections - manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, etc.

Don't use GIL to find articles (while you will find the periodicals that contain the articles, individual articles are not cataloged - for these use indexes or article databases)

GILFind Search Strategies

1) Do a keyword search on your topic, and add any of the following special terms as subject keywords:

sources	correspondence
personal narratives	diaries
early works to 1800	interviews
photographs	maps
pictorial works	oral history
speeches	campaign literature
description and travel

2) Use an author (or corporate author) keyword search to find books written by key participants and organizations. (Also search for names of key people in the subject.)

3) Limit your search by publication date

tuberculosis <1800

4) Try adding the keywords papers or document? or memoir? to your search

This will pull up titles such as the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Columbia documentary history of race and ethnicity in America

These same general strategies will work in any academic library catalog or in WorldCat.

Online Collections

GALILEO
Broad interdisciplinary set of databases administered by the University System of Georgia. For Georgia historical resources, click on subjects "Georgia" or "History." Includes Digital Library of Georgia resources.
Digital Library of Georgia
A GALILEO project based at the University of Georgia. Gateway to Georgia's history and culture found in digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, government documents, newspapers, maps, audio, video, and other resources.
Civil Rights Digital Library
The CRDL features a collection of unedited news film from the WSB (Atlanta) and WALB (Albany, Ga.) television archives held by the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia Libraries.
more...less...
The CRDL provides educator resources and contextual materials, including Freedom on Film, relating instructive stories and discussion questions from the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia, and the New Georgia Encyclopedia, delivering engaging online articles and multimedia.
Documenting the American South
Documenting the American South (DocSouth), a digital publishing initiative sponsored by the University Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provides access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture. It supplies teachers, students, and researchers at every educational level with a wide array of titles they can use for reference, studying, teaching, and research.
more...less...
The texts, images, and other materials come primarily from the premier Southern collections in the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These original Southern materials can be found in several library locations, including the Southern Historical Collection, one of the largest collections of Southern manuscripts in the country; the North Carolina Collection, the most complete printed documentation of a single state anywhere; the Rare Book Collection, which holds an extensive Southern pamphlet collection; and Davis Library, which offers rich holdings of printed materials on the Southeast.
Georgia Government Publications
A Digital Library of Georgia project. Over 30,000 public documents from agencies within the Georgia state government.
Georgia Historical Society Online Exhibitions
Showcases many items and artifacts in the Georgia Historical Society's collections.
Georgia Historical Society | Online Catalog
Online catalog of historical resources available at the Georgia Historical Society (in Savannah). Not a complete listing; contact the Historical Society directly with questions about collections.
GeorgiaInfo
A GALILEO and University of Georgia website. Online Almanac about the state of Georgia. Comprised of both original material created by GeorgiaInfo staff and links to other websites with information useful to Georgia citizens.
Georgia Legislative Documents
A Digital Library of Georgia project. Searchable full text collection of Acts of the General Assembly from 1799 to 1999.
Georgia Stories
Georgia Public Broadcasting's companion site to the Georgia Stories series. Supports the Georgia Social Studies curriculum for 8th grade students.
Sanborn Maps
Information about Sanborn Maps holdings and access.

Local Newspapers

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Historical)
Coverage from 1868-1945
Atlantic Daily World (Historical)
Coverage from 1931-2003
Atlanta Ethnic Newspapers at Emory
Lists African-American, Jewish, and Hispanic newspapers available at Emory University's Woodruff Library.
Creative Loafing
Available from 1974 on in GSU Library as bound periodical (print).
Great Speckled Bird
Underground newspaper published 1968 -1976, 1984-1985.
Other Atlanta Newspapers at Emory
Lists a range of alternative historical Atlanta newspapers. Broad political and social range.
Georgia Newspapers Project
List of Georgia newspapers available on microfilm at the University of Georgia Libraries.
Digital Library of Georgia | Georgia Historic Newspapers
List of Georgia newspapers accessible through the Digital Library of Georgia

Subject Guide

Leslie Madden

she/her

Email Me

Contact:

Library South
Suite 542

404-413-2807

Subjects: English, World Languages & Cultures

Searching for Digital Collections

Many libraries and organizations are making digital materials available online.

To find these collections, use this search string in Google or another search engine, in addition to keywords relevant to your topic, for example:

digital collection library site:.edu atlanta architecture

You can also try the same search limiting to site:org rather than site:edu BUT:

Be careful!

EDU = educational institution
ORG = organization, which can mean almost ANY kind of noncorporate organization. If you aren't familiar with the organization, do some research on it! Who are they? What do they promote? Are they reliable?

* * *

For more information about evaluating websites, see this Evaluating Information guide.

Is There a Website for That?

George Mason University's National History Education Clearinghouse has published reviews of over 1000 history-oriented websites.

Browse, or use keywords to search for a website or digital library relevant to your topic.