LibGuides: World History 1112: 1500 to the Present: Primary Resources

Database Search Tips

Finding good information resources can be frustrating!

Make it a more satisfying experience by using these strategies:

Use specific search terms - A search for global warming will get thousands of results, but global warming and agricultural impact will result in fewer and more relevant results.
Try using the "Advanced Search" screen - You'll find it easier to add more terms to your search and specify where they should appear - for example, in an article title or subject heading.
Try an exact phrase - Searching for stem cell research will retrieve results with these three words, but to ensure that they appear as a phrase (together and in the same order), try putting them in quotation marks: "stem cell research".
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If you get stuck, contact your campus librarian!

JSTOR

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Scholarly, Popular & Trade Journals

Your instructor may require articles from scholarly journals (also called academic or peer-reviewed journals) instead of popular magazines.

There's also something called a trade journal.

What's the difference? Here's a quick overview courtesy of Ithaca College Library.

What is a Primary Source?

Primary sources are the raw tools of historical research - the material closest to the topic of investigation. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art) but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories). You may find primary sources in their original format (usually in an archive) or reproduced in a variety of ways: books, microfilm, digital, etc.

Primary Resources

Cuban Heritage Collection
Manuscripts, photographs, letters, maps, official government documents, and other resources documenting Cuban history. Primarily 19th and 20th centuries. Covers, for example: Wars of Independence; Bay of Pigs invasion; former president Gerardo Machado; art, music, and theater; Fidel Castro; Cuban diaspora; Cuban Refugee Program; The Truth About Cuba Committee; and more. (Univ. of Miami)
History in Latin America
Links to websites with both primary and secondary content in Latin American history. (LANIC, Latin American Network Information Center, Univ. of Texas at Austin)
Jamaica and Slavery in the Age of Revolution
The main focus of the site is a collection of letters written by Simon Taylor, a wealthy and powerful Jamaican slaveholder. These letters are an important source of information about Caribbean slavery during the Age of Revolution that provide one important way into exploring how slaveholding was perpetuated, resisted and, eventually, ended in the British empire.

British History Online
Contains core primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles, 11th - 19th centuries. (Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust)
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels Papers
Collection of original papers from German philosopher & economist Karl Marx (1818-1883) and German social scientist Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). These are considered some of the most influential pieces of writing in world history, which still play a major role in the rethinking of capitalism, labour, economic crises and revolution. (International Institute of Social History)
The National Archives
The U.K. government's official archive. Tip: Focus on the "Online Records" button on this page to find digitized collections. Especially strong in census, military, immigration, and similar records. (The National Archives)

Berlin Wall History
"Documents on the history of the Berlin Wall, beginning with the conditions in Berlin and East Germany following WWII and the history of the wall's construction in 1961, and followed by the 1971 Four Power Negotiations on the status of Berlin, and the final tearing down of the Wall in 1989." (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars)
Modern Korean History Portal
Scroll down to see the featured collections of historical documents on a wide variety of topics. (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars)
Wilson Center Digital Archive: International History Declassified
"Contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe" in "the history of international relations and diplomacy," focusing on "the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation." (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars)

Imperialism
From Fordham University: Includes
Analyses
Motives and Attitudes
Celebrations and Objections

Industrial Revolution
Includes many sources from Fordham University's History Department.
The Second Industrial Revolution
Another list of sources from Fordham University's History Department.

Military Resoures: Vietnam War
From the National Archives and Records Association. Includes a listing of archival collections pertaining to military operations in Vietnam.
My Lai Courts-Martial
The My Lai courts-martial are the stories of two tragedies growing out of American involvement in Viet Nam. One was the massacre by United States soldiers of as many as 500 unarmed civilians-- old men, women, children--in My Lai on the morning of March 16, 1968. The other was the cover-up of that massacre.
Tet Declassified
Newly-declassified historical material relating to the Intelligence Community’s role in the Tet Offensive, highlighting material from the Central Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive
Over 2.7 million pages of scanned materials: documents, photographs, slides, negatives, oral histories, artifacts, moving images, sound recordings, maps and collection finding aids.

Contact Us!

Lanier Technical College Libraries

Marci Manglitz
Director of Library Services
Hall Campus
770-533-6968
mmanglitz@laniertech.edu

Min Su
Librarian
Forsyth Campus
678-341-6636
msu@laniertech.edu

Tina Jordan
Librarian
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678-513-5221
tjordan@laniertech.edu

Jocelyn Deal
Librarian
Barrow Campus
770-297-4525
jdeal@laniertech.edu