Most historical research is done using archival materials and other primary sources. However, these can sometimes be difficult to find, access, and interpret. Use this section of the guide as a starting place for understanding primary sources and archival materials.
A primary source is any source that was created at the time you are studying. Historians value primary sources because they can give you insight into what life was like during that time. Both textual and material sources can be primary sources.
Examples:
And primary sources do not just exist for the pre-digital age, either. Pro-Tip: Born-digital sources are different than digitized sources. Born-digital sources are those which never existed in a physical form, such as an entry on LiveJournal. Digitized sources are those which exist in a physical form, usually in an archive, and have been scanned or photographed, such as a journal from the 18th century. It is important to note that for born-digital sources, the digital format itself is the primary source. For digitized sources, the image is a representation of the physical primary source.
Born-digital primary sources can include:
Primary sources are compared to secondary sources (such as journal articles and monographs), which study multiple primary sources to understand a historical event, and tertiary sources (such as textbooks and encyclopedias), which synthesize multiple secondary sources to present accepted information on a variety of topics.
Most primary sources, especially physical ones, are found in archives. Archives can be part of a museum, a library, or an organization. For example, most government agencies have archives for their documents. The United States government has a National Archive. The State of Georgia has a State Archive. Augusta University has TWO archives.
A lot of archives have digitized SOME of their holdings and these digitized materials can be found online. However, most archival material is not digitized and must be accessed in person at the location it is held. This can pose problems during historical research, as you may not be able to access the primary sources you need.
The AU Libraries' subscribe to several databases that can help you find archival material. Click on the links below to use these resources.
Brings together approximately 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Rare and unique content from microfilm, newsletters, organizational papers, government documents, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other types of primary sources sheds light on the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more. Documents are sourced from top libraries and archives like Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, GLBT Historical Society, New York Public Library, Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, Inc., and others.
Many museums, libraries, and other cultural heritage centers keep archives, sometimes with digital materials. Here is a small sampling of digital archives.
Many online archives are specialized, so searching in Google for your topic and archive can be useful (for example cold war archive). Just be sure to only use archival materials housed in legitimate archives or cultural heritage institutions that track provenance, which is the origin and history of the source itself.
