HIST 388: Practice and Theory - Primary Sources and the Archival Profession


Finding Published Primary Sources

The CONSORT catalog can be used to locate books, government documents, microforms, video and sound recordings, and special collections materials available in the Kenyon, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster libraries.

CONSORT also provides access to OhioLINK, which indicates the holdings of 85 libraries throughout Ohio. You may borrow books and documents directly from either CONSORT or OhioLINK. Requested materials typically arrive at Kenyon 2 to 3 working days after the request is made, but delivery may take longer depending upon the time of year -- especially near midterms and finals -- so plan ahead.

WorldCat is a catalog of library holdings throughout the country and world. Contains records for any type of materials: books, sound recordings, video recordings, manuscripts, etc. Click the ILL button from within WorldCat to request an item be sent to you at Kenyon. Delivery time will vary depending on where an item is coming from.

 

Finding Published Primary Sources in CONSORT, OhioLINK, and WorldCat
In any of the above three catalogs (CONSORT, OhioLINK, WorldCat), you can use subject heading subdivisions to do advanced swearching for published versions of primary sources. See these suggested subject headings; ask at the Information Desk for help in searching.

Finding Newspapers

America's Historical Newspapers 1690-1922
Full text of more than 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers published between 1690 and 1922, including titles from all 50 states.

American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900
Consists of digitized reproductions of more than 1,100 eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers and periodicals in the original microfilm reproduction series, American periodical series, I, II, and III.

HarpWeek: The Civil War Era and Reconstruction I (1857-1871)
Full text and images of Harper's Weekly, from 1857-1871.

African-American Newspapers and Magazines on Microfilm
List of African-American newspapers and magazines at Kenyon on microfilm.

More Newspaper Resources

 

Government Information

The agencies of the United States federal government issue materials on a wide variety of topics. These publications can be of use in historical research. For help finding government documents in the Kenyon Library collection, refer to the Government Documents page. For information on finding more government documents online, refer to the Government Information Resources page.

National Archives Archival Research Catalog
This link will take you to ARC Basic Search page to find unpublished federal government records. In the Filter Your Search section, select (click in) the "Descriptions of Archival Materials linked to digital copies" box to limit your search to only those items available digitally.

 

Selected Primary Source Collections


Access to African American Studies (Lexis-Nexis)
This database features full text resources on African-American history, including federal legislation, court decisions, biographical articles, selected manuscripts, personal narratives, and journal articles.

Access to Women's Studies (Lexis-Nexis)
This database features full text resources on American women's history, including federal legislation, court decisions, biographical articles, selected manuscripts, personal narratives, and journal articles.

Annals of American History Online
Full text of over 2000 primary documents in American history, including historical accounts, speeches, memoirs, poems, editorials, and cultural criticism. Also has multimedia files including more than 500 pictures, hundreds of video clips, and audio of famous speeches.

American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography
American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography is a full-text database of slave narratives compiled by the Library of Congress from transcripts of 2,000 interviews of former slaves from seventeen states. The interviews were conducted between 1936 and 1938 by field workers hired by the WPA Federal Writer's Project.

Early American Imprints, Series I, Evans 1639-1800
Full text of over 37,000 books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in America from 1639-1800 on topics touching on all aspects of life in 17th- and 18th- century America. The titles are drawn from American Bibliography by Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography.

Early American Imprints, Series II, Shaw-Shoemaker 1800-1819
Full text of 36,000 American books, pamphlets, and broadsides on all topics published in the first nineteen years of the nineteenth century. Based on the authoritative bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker and supplemented by thousands of new items. Updated monthly until completion in July 2007.

The Gerritsen Collection of Women's History, 1543-1945 [On microfiche/microfilm]
This microfilm/microfiche collection is international in scope and includes over 4000 monographs and 265 serials. The richest part of the collection centers on the 19th century and includes monographs and periodicals in the following areas:

  • BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • HISTORY AND SOCIAL CONDITION
  • EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
  • WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT
  • FEMINISM
  • PHYSIOLOGY OF WOMEN
  • PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN
  • BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
  • OPINIONS, SATIRES, ANECDOTES, APHORISMS
  • WOMEN AND THE ARTS
  • POLITICS AND SOCIAL REFORM
  • RELIGION

The collection is located in the microforms area on Level 2 of Chalmers. Items in the collection will appear in CONSORT searches or may be searched specifically by adding the word gerritsen to your keyword search (e.g. "gerritsen and suffrage"). For help in using the collection, ask at the Information Desk.

Historic Documents, 1972-
Historic Documents is an annual compilation of approximately one hundred documents covering the most significant events of the year. These documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions. Published by CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Press.

 

Selected Local Primary Sources

AT KENYON: Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections includes rare books and special subject research collections. The Kenyon College Archives contain material related to the history and people of Kenyon College.

Knox County Historical Society
Houses local permanent collections and a research library.

Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County
Including genealogy and local history reference services, linked above.

Knox County RootsWeb Page
Aimed at genealogists, includes links to information about many local institutions and organizations, including maps, cemeteries, and tracing individuals.

Ohio Historical Society
Including a research library on Ohio history.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1867-1970 - OHIO
Sanborn Digital Maps are large scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970. Sanborn Maps show the outline of each building including the location of windows and doors together with street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. These maps are heavily used in both public and academic libraries by a wide range of researchers including local historians to locate and identify buildings and neighborhoods, urban historians to study the growth of towns and cities, and environmentalists concerned about impact of new developments.

 

Selected Primary Sources on the Internet

Questions to ask yourself as you evaluate Internet resources

Selected Sites

Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Includes digitized full text of Medieval European primary sources.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook
Includes digitized full text of primary sources pertaining to Modern history. The focus is mainly on Europe and the Americas with some African and Asian materials.

Library of Congress American Memory Project
Over 5 million digitized text, sound and video recordings, images, maps, and sheet music from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions.

Resources for History
Another site which provides links to a wide variety of historical resources.

 

Becoming an Archivist


Society of American Archivists
An overview of the archival profession.

Directory of Archival Education
Graduate programs that include education in archives.

The Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record
Housed at the University of Texas at Austin, the Kilgarlin Center builds on graduate education program in preservation administration and conservation, actively focusing national and international attention on preservation issues by conducting research, sponsoring symposia, and convening expert thinking on broad, timely, interrelated topics that address the management of our documentary heritage..

Rare Book School
Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent non-profit educational institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects. Scholarships and fellowships available.

Northeast Document Conservation Center
See "Resources" and "Education" sections to get started with conservation and preservation information.

 

For Research Help, Contact:

Nina Clements

Librarian & Technology Consultant

740. 427. 4668