| Finding Primary Sources in MAGIC | Other Library Catalogs | Primary Source Collections Online | Scholarly Articles | Contemporary Records | Selected Online Reference Works |
Primary sources are generally defined as first-hand accounts of events. A primary source is an original work, not derived from other sources. These may be first-person accounts, such as diaries, letters or interviews, or official government records or court records. Visual records, such as painting or photographs, as well as films, television programs and even advertisements are also primary sources.
Published primary sources can be identified in MAGIC by combining search terms with the standard headings applied to primary sources: sourcesWorldCat is a catalog of books and other materials held in libraries worldwide. Contains more than 52,000,000 bibliographic records representing 400 languages. [Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
"CRL is a consortium of North American research libraries that acquires and preserves traditional and digital resources for research and teaching and makes them available to member institutions through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery." Its collections contain over four million newspapers, journals, dissertations, archives, and government publications, with special strengths in foreign materials. In addition to its online catalog, utilize searchable special collections databases (foreign newspapers, foreign doctoral dissertations, etc.) as needed.
PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTIONS ONLINE
American Memory (Library of Congress)"American Memory is a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections." Freely available on the Web
Making of America (University of Michigan) A full-text digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. Currently includes over 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles on all topics.Making of America (Cornell University)
A full-text digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. SCHOLARLY ARTICLESAmerica, History and Life
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
"A complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada. Provides access to articles, book reviews, and dissertations. Coverage of the literature from 1964 forward, providing access to historical articles for the Modern period (1492-present).
Historical Abstracts Santa Barbara, Cal.: ABC-Clio, 1955-
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
History of all world areas excluding the United States and Canada. Index coverage from 1954 forward, providing access to historical articles for the Modern period (1492-present).
HAPI, Hispanic American Periodical Index Online
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Important source for articles in journals published in Latin America, but also indexes content of many major North American and European journals related to Latin America and the Caribbean. Print volumes (to 1998) available in Main Reference.
Periodicals Contents Index (PCI Full Text)
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
More than 1 million citations to articles in more than 3,000 journals published from 1770-1995. These journals represent popular and scholarly titles in the humanities and social sciences. 1,000,000 citations are added annually. Includes a growing repository of full-text articles
Humanities Abstracts
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Index to articles in over 400 humanities periodicals in archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, the performing arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature. Coverage from 1984 forward.
Social Sciences Abstracts
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Covers some 350 core periodicals in the fields of anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations. Coverage from 1983 forward.
Retrospective Indexes Nineteenth century Readers' guide to periodical literature, 1890-1899, with supplementary indexing, 1900-1922. Edited by Helen Grant Cushing and Adah V. Morris. New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1944.HarpWeek .
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Indexing and full text of Harper's Weekly, an important journal documenting American society and culture during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age.
New York Times, 1850-2001.
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Full text.
Historical Index to the New York Times .
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Index to articles appearing in the New York Times from 1863-1905 and 1913-1922. When complete, this index will cover articles published in the New York Times from 1851-1922. Updates are expected biannually. Print indexes (from 1851 to the present) are available in Reference on 1 East. Microfilm of the newspaper is in the Periodical/Microform Reading Room on 2 West in the Main Library.
Times of London, 1790-1905.
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Index to articles appearing in the Times of London from 1790-1905. Full text is available for the period 1800 (January 9) through 1870 in the current release of the database.
Times of London, 1906-1980.
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
An index to the Times of London covering all disciplines and events for 75 years in the 20th century.
SELECTED ONLINE REFERENCE WORKS
AncestryPlus .
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
AncestryPlus is a genealogy research product that provides instant access to more than 1.2 billion names, more than 3,000 databases, primary source documents and images and a variety of genealogical research features with new databases added daily. AncestryPlus also includes Gale Group's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index and, for the first time, digital images of the census records from the U.S. Federal Census between the years 1790 and 1920.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) .
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
BGMI indexes current, readily available reference sources, as well as the most important retrospective works that cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world.
Black Thought and Culture
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
When complete, Black Thought and Culture will provide approximately 100,000 pages of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from the earliest times to 1975. Presents a wide range of previously inaccessible material, including letters by athletes such as Jackie Robinson, correspondence by Ida B. Wells, prefatory essays by Amiri Baraka, political leaflets by Huey Newton, and interviews with Paul Robeson.
Dissertation Abstracts (ProQuest Digital Dissertations)
[Restricted to MSU IP ranges.]
Gives online access to citations and abstracts for every title in the Dissertation Abstracts database. Titles published since 1997 are available in PDF digital format and have 24 page previews available.
Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
[MSU Main Reference]
The Congressional Record
[MSU Main Reference]
August 29, 2005