Guides: Music History: Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary or Secondary: What's the difference?

Before you can find primary sources, you have to know what they are. Watch this video for an explanation of the difference:

To recap ...

A primary source proves direct, first-hand evidence of an event, an object, or a person. Primary sources provide facts about an event or time period.
A secondary source is an analysis, evaluation, or interpretation of an event or time period. They interpret or analyze the primary source material.

Primary	Secondary
Autobiography, letters, memoir, diary written by an individual	A biography about an individual
Transcript of a presidential speech	Newspaper commentary about a presidential speech
Text of a court decision	Book that analyzes the court decision
A description a protest march by a participant or someone who witnessed it	Journal article that analyzes events that led up to the march and the impact of the event
An official government record and publication	A blog post that gives an analysis or commentary about a government publication

Historical Newspaper Articles:

Historical Newspapers (Five Major Papers) This link opens in a new window
Includes full page images of newspaper articles, including advertisements. Indexing is keyword. The library subscribes to the full package: New York Times 1851-2017, Wall Street Journal 1889-2003, Washington Post 1877-2004, Christian Science Monitor 1908-2007, Los Angeles Times- 1881-1996. For recent newspaper articles, see our Newspaper Databases.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full-text coverage of 19th century newspapers from across the U.S. published between 1800 and 1900. Many published in what were, at the time, territories.
Illustrated London News (1842-2003) This link opens in a new window
The world’s first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, marking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. Presented a vivid picture of British and world events; all issues from 1842 to 2003 included.

Digital Archival Collections:

Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Digital collections of historical material on many topics. Includes manuscripts, printed books and periodicals, and government documents. Material comes from the U.S. National Archives, the U.K. National Archives, and many other libraries and archives.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Digitized collections held at the Library of Congress.
JSTOR Open Community Collections
Original materials including artworks, photographs, publications, recordings, and other artifacts. Explore important and rare collections from libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies around the world.

ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
ArchiveGrid provides information on archives materials owned by libraries, museums, and historical societies worldwide.

Use the following guide for assistance:

Evaluating & Fact-Checking Sources
by Jennifer Corbin Last Updated Oct 17, 2023 251 views this year