Types of Primary Sources - ENGL 102 - English Composition II - Schmidt - LibGuides at Harrisburg Area Community College

Examples of Types of Primary Sources

FindLaw for Legal Professionals: Cases and Codes
FindLaw's Cases and Codes section contains resources and links for both state and federal laws. This includes resources pertaining to constitutions, statutes, cases and more. Run a search for case summaries or select a jurisdiction to browse applicable laws.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window
Collection of legal materials on slavery in the United States and England, including statutes and case law from the colonial, state and federal level.

Data and Statistics about the U.S.
Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.
Pew Research Center
"The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does so by conducting public opinion polling and social science research." Check out the following sections: Topic Index, Databank, and Projects of the Center.
World Public Opinion
WorldPublicOpinion.org is an international collaborative project whose aim is to give voice to public opinion around the world on international issues.

Govinfo: U.S. Government Publishing Office
Govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Congress.gov
Official web site for the United States Congress.

Gifts of Speech (Women's Speeches From Around the World)
Gifts of Speech is a non-profit project, sponsored by Sweet Briar College, dedicated to preserving and creating access to speeches by inspirational, influential and contemporary, women from around the world.
Vital Speeches of the Day
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Use "search within this publication" option

American Speeches by Ted Widmer (Editor)
Call Number: E183 .A498 2006 AT: HARRISBURG, LANCASTER, LEBANON AND YORK
Publication Date: 2006-10-05
A historian and former presidential speechwriter presents an unprecedented two-volume collection of the greatest speeches in American history.

Original Research Published in Scholarly Journals

In an EBSCO or Proquest database, limit your search to scholarly/peer-reviewed journals, and make sure that your article has a "method" section.

It is also possible to limit your search to "Primary Source Documents" in some databases.

See below for what an original research article looks like:

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article (North Carolina State Univ.)
An interactive tutorial about the structure of research articles, from the libraries of North Carolina State University.

Primary Sources for Historical Topics

Below are some examples of primary source types that work particularly well with historical topics. Remember that all of these would be *from the time period being studied*:

Diaries and journals
Letters and memos
Oral History
Film
Speeches and interviews
Government documents such as laws, court cases, legislative proceedings, etc.
Newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements
Autobiography and memoir
Photographs
Art and literary works
Maps
Songs & Music