Primary Sources in History

Primary Docs Databases

Pen next to paper icon    Look for the pencil beside the databases that indicate primary sources.

Government Documents

Center for Research Libraries

The Center for Research Libraries supports advanced research and teaching.  UNF Library is a member of CRL.  That means that you have access to thousands of research books and documents through fast interlibrary loan. CRL collects unique and little-known humanities, science, and social science documents.

There are also thousands of digital copies that you can read online.

Finding Primary Sources using the UNF Catalog

Remember that academic libraries use the Library of Congress Classification System and subject headings. Once you find a good subject heading, you can find all the items in a library on that topic.

So -- be sure to look at the full record and use keywords from the subject headings to do another search or you may see the perfect subject heading that you can just click on.

  • correspondence
  • presidents and correspondence
  • soldiers and correspondence
  • diaries
  • personal narratives
  • speeches, addresses, etc.
  • campaign speeches
  • autobiography - make sure it really is an autobiography
  • memoir - make sure it really is a memoir