Primary Sources

There is no precise way to find collections of digital primary sources. Search tools that you use for searching for primary sources whether they are tangible or digital are the same. You can use catalogs, ONESEARCH & WORLDCAT (a catalog of individual material titles & collections in the world), databases, & search the internet. When looking for digital/online primary sources, some will be free & some only accessible if our library subscribes to the collection.

Also, browsers will find non-digital primary sources. When looking for primary sources, the right primary source for your research is the most valuable, regardless of format. The best source may not exist digitally, so we want to be open to finding the best sources for our research & assignments

The Library subscribes to some digital/online primary collections. See this research guide where they are arranged by type of primary source. Most are proprietary (you need to be a current student, faculty, or staff) to use the database. We require that you use your SACLINK name/password to access them.

In some cases, the databases are free. For example, Cornell University's Making of America, a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction that provides free access to 267 monographs & over 100,000 journal articles from the19th century. You can find it searching ONESEARCH. But searching for our primary source database America History 1860-1945 you will only find it listed on our Database webpage or our research guide for primary sources collections.