Freshman Seminar 72G_ The American Democratic Tradition: Past, Present, and Future

Kinds of Primary Sources

Books.  Find books (and other resources) in HOLLIS and WorldCat

Periodicals come in the following types: Magazines, Academic -Disciplinary, Professional/Trade, Newspapers, Graphic Novels/ Commics

Personal accounts. These are first person narratives recalling or describing a person’s life and opinions. These include diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and when delivered orally and recorded: Oral histories and Interviews.

Archives and Manuscripts comprise originally unpublished writings or records produced by an individual (personal papers) or an organization in their activities.  Organizations producing archives may be governments (national, state, local), NGOs, corporations, universities.  They may reside with their producing bodies or may have been added to an archival repository.  You typically have to go to the repository to use them.

Government Documents  (National, State, Local) are publications produced for public distribution (unlike archival sources).  We give instructions on finding them in this guide United States, US foreign relations, US state and local, and foreign government documents. 

Historical Statistics.  Most countries publish series of demographic, economic and other statistics.  Statistics are also gathered by non-governmental agencies, including international organizations.  Tools for finding them listed in this guide.   Sample HOLLIS Library Catalog search

Public Opinion. Surveys are available that gauge public opinion on numerous topics.  Instructions for finding them in this guide. Sample HOLLIS Library Catalog search. For the opinion of a particular group of people use the Subject term: Attitudes - Sample HOLLIS Library Catalog search.

Law:  Legal sources include:Laws, Case law: Appeals court opinions, Trial transcripts or accounts 

Gray Literature refers to reports produced and published by governmental or non-governmental agencies (think tanks, research institutes) but not published via the usual commercial or academic channels.  Think tank publications often offer the views of particular ideological groups. They may be studies of policy (often called working papers) or technical studies (called technical reports)

Country, State, and Local Information.  Information about a particular country, state or city/town at a particular time is available via a variety of sources including: Annual country reference publication series, State and Local Government documents, Travelers’ writings, and guidebooks.City directories

Literary Works: literary works and works of literary scholarship  are listed in the research guide: Literary Research in Harvard Libraries.

Images.  Harvard has numerous collections of images which are best searched via HOLLIS Images.  Tools for finding them listed in this guide.

Film.  As well as entertainment films, there are documentary films and newsreels. Tools for finding them listed in this guide.  The Library has a guide for streaming video.

Broadcast. Much news is distributed via radio and TV.  Tools for finding broadcast news, radio and TV listed in this guide.

Material.  Much historical evidence resides in material objects.  Find what Harvard has with a form/genre search in HOLLIS (HOLLIS Library Catalog Example - note that we exclude Visual in the search). We have a draft (unfinished) guide to American material culture.  Links to Harvard museums.

• HOLLIS - See HOLLIS User Guide for search tips.
• HathiTrust Digital Library - A major resource for ebooks. You will need to log in once you enter HathiTrust.

Hollis _ Database Search : https://library.harvard.edu/services-tools/database-search

Top picks

• Google Scholar
• JSTOR
• WorldCat (FirstSearch)
• HathiTrust
• Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)

Best databases for:

• History

United States Press

Chronicling America, enhancing access to historic American newspapers  (Library of Congress) includes a searchable newspaper directory (1690-present) which can be limited by ethnicity and/or occupation (for the labor press).

The Boston Public Library has (had) a guide to digitized newspaper directories.

N.W. Ayer & Son's directory of newspapers and periodicals [title varies], 1880-1982.
LOCATION: Widener: AL 6.3 (1880-1881, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1910, 1912, 1914, 1917, 1919-1923, 1926-1929, 1931-1932, 1934-1935, 1938-1969, 1970-1982))

Includes circulation statistics. In a section (usually called Lists, Classifications or Subject Indexes) after the main geographical sequence are lists of agricultural, college, foreign language, Black (early called colored, then Negro), religious, fraternal (early called secret societies), trade and technical (including scientific and medical), and labor publications which carry advertising. The foregoing categories may have their own headings or may be included, with many others, within the Trade, Technical and Class section.

Full text online, 1869-1919

Continued by:
Gale directory of publications [title varies], 1983- .
LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository WID-LC PN4855.Z99 I47x
HOLLIS record for 1983-85, 1987-89
HOLLIS record for 1990-

Political

The conservative press in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century America, ed. by Ronald Lora and William Henry Longton. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999, 401 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4888.C598 C66 1999

The conservative press in twentieth-century America, ed. by Ronald Lora and William Henry Longton. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999, 729 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4888.C598 C664 1999

Popular

American mass-market magazines, ed. by Alan Nourie and Barbara Nourie. NY: Greenwood Press, 1990, 611 p.
Widener | RR655.25

Consumer magazines of the British Isles, ed. by Sam G. Riley. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993, 300 p.
Widener | RR655.316.5

Regional

Index to city and regional magazines of the United States, by Sam G. Riley and Gary W. Selnow. NY: Greenwood Press, 1989, 130 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4877.Z99 R55 1989x

Index to Southern periodicals, by Sam G. Riley. NY: Greenwood Press, 1986. 459 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4893.Z99 R54 x, 1986

Magazines of the American South, by Sam G. Riley. NY: Greenwood Press, 1986, 346 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4893 .R54 1986

Regional interest magazines of the United States, ed. by Sam G. Riley and Gary W. Selnow. NY: Greenwood Press, 1991, 418 p.
Widener | RR655.25.7

News Database

• NEXIS Uni
• Factiva

American humor magazines and comic periodicals, ed. by David E.E. Sloane. NY: Greenwood Press, 1987, 648 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN4880 .A46 1987

The Harvard Map Collection contains one of the world’s finest collections of maps. Although their atlases are in HOLLIS, many of their individual maps are not. Som a visit is useful. As well as political and topographic maps, they have numerous thematic maps which map demographic, social, and economic other features.

• Harvard Map Collection Digital Maps
• Harvard Map Collection Tumblr
• Harvard Map Collection Instagram

US Data

• ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)

• Data.gov - Portal for data from hundreds of organizations including federal agencies.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• ProQuest Statistical Insight - Indexes the statistical content of selected federal and state government publications.
• Supreme Court Public Opinion Poll
• The Supreme Court Database (Washington University Law)

• United States Census Data Resources (Research Guide)

  Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS)

  International historical statistics, 1750-2010

  Proquest Statistical Insight combines:

  • American Statistics Index (1974- ) for all U.S. Government statistics
  • Statistical Reference Index (1980-) for other U.S. statistics
  • Index to International Statistics (1983- ) for international organization statistics

  • Full-text of the documents indexed is available on microfiche in Government Documents and Microforms.

Data Series Online (eh.net) 

Background & Context

• The Oxford Companion to United States History

• The Oxford Guide to the United States Government

• Encyclopedia of American Studies. More Information.

• The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues. (online)