| Where to Start |
| Primary Resources in the Proctor Library |
| Journal Articles |
| Websites |
| Cite Your Sources |
Frequently college papers can be written without consulting primary resources, but sometimes this is simply not possible. This quick guide should help you find some of the primary sources you need.
- Conduct a search in the Library Catalog to see if the Proctor Library has the source you need. Consult the section Primary Resources in the Proctor Library for more information.
- You might find some primary resources in a database; particularly if you are looking for articles by the author you are discussing in your paper. See Journal Articles to learn more.
- In this day and age of electronics many libraries and organizations are digitalizing primary resources. To see a list of some sites go to Websites.
- Visit Citing Your Sources to find out where you can go to learn how to site all the wonderful primary resources you have found.
- If you would like more information about primary resources you may want to read Princeton University Library's Primary Sources: A Guide for History Majors resource page.
Archives can be a great place to find primary resources. In the Fall of 2007, Flagler College's first archivist, Christine Wysocki, cwysocki@flagler.edu, started organizing the archives. Ms Wysocki is in the process of discovering, cataloging, and providing access to the materials housed in the archives. If you anticipate needing anything she would like several days notice before visiting the archives so she can locate the specific item you need. She would like to let you know too that there are some "gems" from the archives on disply in the display cabinets on the first floor at the back of the lobby by the stairs. Enjoy!
Some of the resources in the archives that she already knows are available are invoices from the Flagler hotel chain from pre-college days, brochures for the Ponce de Leon Hotel and other Flagler hotels in Florida, as well as one interview with a worker from the Florida East Coast Railroad extension into the Florida Keys. The entire collection of Flagler College yearbooks is also housed in the College Archives. Additionally, there are two dissertations Florida's First Spanish Renaissance Revival by Rafael Crespo, and Two Gilded Age Hotels: The History, Restoration, and Adaptive Use of the Tampa Bay and Ponce de Leon Hotels by Anna Castillo; neither are Flagler College gradutes.
Unindexed and piled in boxes are a wealth of articles and brochures advertising the college put out by the Office of Public Relations - presumably over the years. Being unindexed and undocumented the extent and coverage of this collection can not yet be determined and Ms Wysocki recommends using one of the Library's databases to try and find information about the College's history.
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The following is a list of examples of the types of "primary" resources in the Proctor Library. All would in fact be considered facsimilies since the original document(s) are either rare (limited number of copies of the originals), in an unknown location, or for those items that were originally oral - non-existent.
| The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain | -- PS1306 .A1 1977 |
| The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Ben Franklin | -- E302.6 .F7 A2 1984 |
| Beowulf | -- available through netLibrary |
| Best Loved Songs of the American People | -- M1629 .A388 B5 1975 |
| The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock | -- VHS PN1997 .B5287 1985 |
| The Civil Wars, Julius Caesar | -- PA6238 .B2 1966 |
| The Complete Work of Michelangelo, Michelangelo | -- Quatro ND623 .B9 S34 1967 |
| The Constitution of the United States of America and The Declaration of Independence | -- JK14 1948 |
| Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostovesky | -- PG3326 .P7 1953 |
| Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, Galileo Galilei | -- QB36 .G2 A25 1957 |
| The Great Charter (The Magna Carta) | -- JN145 .F55 1965 |
| Historical Documents (1972, 1984-1988, 1990-2000, 2002-2007) | -- REF E839.5 .H57 |
| The Holy Bible, The Catholic Bible Douay-Rheims Version | -- BS180 1941 |
| The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version | -- BS191.A1 1952 .N4 |
| Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyderdahl | -- G530 .T463 1950, G530 .T463 1970 |
| Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches, Sir Winston Churchill | -- DA566.9 .C5 A5 2003 |
| The Odyssey, Homer | -- PA4025 .A5 M74 1995 v.1-2 |
| The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin | -- available through netLibrary |
| The Republic, Plato | -- PA3612 .P6 1914 v.5-6 |
| The Verrine Orations, Vol. 1-2, Cicero | -- PA6156 .C5 1968 v.7-8 |
| The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America | -- PT7281 .G7 E53 1965, McAlister 973.13 G734v 1966 |
These are good databases to possibly find primary resources. Databases are clearinghouses for journal articles and most articles will be secondary resources rather than primary resources; however, try other databases if you do not find what you are looking for here or ask a librarian at the reference desk for help.
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Art Museum Image Gallery
An online collection of high-quality, digital documentation of works of art from around the world. Works from major European, American, and Canadian artists in the collections of member museums are included. Cultures and time periods represented range from contemporary art, Native American and Inuit art, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works, along with Japanese and Chinese works. The database includes numerous multimedia files. Art Museum Image Gallery documents over 90,000 works of art. -
CQ Weekly
CQ Weekly is useful for accessing current news and analysis on Congress and major public policy issues. It is also useful for tracking votes and legislation in Congress, locating recent Congressional documents and related material in full-text, and learning more about members of Congress and the legislative process. -
Issues & Controversy
Provides up-to-date, in-depth and objective information on approximately 600 current topics, combining objective analysis and clear explanations of opposing points of view. Chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, sidebars, bibliographies and contact information augment the balanced coverage of current and historical events. -
LexisNexis Academic
Provides access to thousands of news, business, legal, and medical publications and information sources, including: newspapers, newsletters, magazines, trade journals, wire services, and broadcast transcripts. The legal component of the database includes comprehensive, current legal information. This consists of federal and state case law, statues, secondary sources such as law reviews, and state legal materials. -
Proquest Newspapers
Contains The New York Times from 1999 to the present and 500 national and international newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal from 1984 to the present and 13 Florida newspapers. -
Westlaw
Comprehensive online database providing current (updated every twenty-four hours) law and legal information. Over 13,000 databases are offered. "WestNews" is an excellent starting point for news and business information. You can search using "natural language" and then advance to using more formal legal-based terminologies. This database is located on a single computer in the Research Lab. A Reference Librarian will be happy to assist you in locating and using this valuable legal resource.
This is just a sampling of websites where facsimilies of various primary resources can be found.
NEW Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide -- available from the Library of Congress, this is a link into a digitization attempt to make all Lincoln's writings available to the public
Chronicling America: Historical American Newspapers -- newspapers from various states are available full-text for 1900-1910, while holdings information for many other newspapers are available for 1690-present
Footnote.com -- various U.S. documents (letters, photos, pension records, Pennsylvania Archives, etc.) available online, much of this site is freely available, but detailed information or images are only via membership
Hansard -- this website contains transcriptions of debates from the United Kingdom House of Commons and House of Lords
The Library of Congress: American Memory -- rather than provide links to all the exciting primary resources available through this site take some time to explore it on your own. Everything from the 1930's WPA work to documents by the Founding Fathers, and anything else Americana in between and beyond is included on this site.
Making of America -- from Cornell University Library, this site focuses on primary sources from the Antebellum to Reconstruction period of American history
Our Documents -- a website created through the help of the National History Day, the National Archives & Records Administration, and the USA Freedom Corps, this site provides access to what they call 100 milestone documents in American history
NEW Papers of the War Department: 1784 to 1800 -- thought destroyed by a fire in the War Office in 1800, many scholars spent more than 10 years in the late 20th and early 21st century visiting libraries and archives in the U.S. and Europe to find and digitize around 55,000 of the documents presumed lost. The headquarters for this project are at George Mason University in Virginia.
Primary Sources at Yale -- despite the name of this webpage the site actually provides a very nice explanation of all the different kinds of primary resources
Small Town Papers: Newspaper Archives -- 250 newspapers from small communities available online
Southeast Asia Visions: A Collection of Historic Travel Narratives -- from Cornell University Library, this site provides some full-text access to some of the Cornell holdings
Using Primary Sources on the Web -- from the American Library Association's RUSA, this site explains and gives examples of sites that provide access to primary documents online
Veterans History Project: A Project of the American Folklore Center at the Library of Congress
WorldVitalRecords.com -- this is a genealogical website with both free and member access to documents such as marriage, birth, death, land records, census's, newspaper articles, etc.
| The Chicago Manual of Style | -- RREF Z253 .U69 2003 * |
| Citation Styles | -- from Long Island University |
| Citing Sources | -- from the Duke University Libraries |
| MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers | -- RREF LB2369 .G52 2003 * |
| Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association | -- RREF BF76.7 .P83 2001 * |
If your professor is requiring a different style guide, see Resources for Writing to find out if the Proctor Library has the guide you need.
* RREF stands for Ready Reference near the reference desk on the first floor.
Need more help finding resources? Email me at kowens@flagler.edu or visit the Library's Reference Desk.
Last Updated: February 18, 2009