Primary sources can be found in a variety of library tools:
For specific search strategies, see the Library's Guide to Finding Historical Primary Sources
Learn more about your topic in advance:
Use the bibliographies of secondary sources and reference sources to find citations to specific primary sources; search UC Library Search to locate them on campus, or ask for assistance at the Library.
What are microforms?
Before digital storage became easy and cheap, microfilm and microfiche were formats that libraries could use to maintain large collections of newspapers, government documents, and historical documents while saving physical storage space. Rolls of microfilm and flat microfiche cards each contains thousands of tiny images of the original documents.
Access
You need to use a microfilm reader to view microfilm and microfiche. Microfilm readers allow you to read, print and save pages to flash drives in .jpg and .pdf format. The Libraries have a number of microform readers available:
Finding articles
Most newspapers do not have indexes. How do you find articles by subject? By knowing the approximate date of the event you are studying. If you don't know the date, you can use the index to a different newspaper as a way to find out.
Newspaper indexes you might want to use:
There are others. Ask the Newspaper Microfilm staff for help.
Guides to over 20,000 collections housed in 200 libraries, archives, historical societies, special collections and museums across California are searchable at the Online Archive of California (OAC). Collection guides, also known as finding aids, are descriptive guides to archival (primary source) collections. These collections may be physically located in archives or digitized on the web. The guides help users learn more about the scope of a collection so they know if it is likely to meet their research needs.
Digitized versions of photographs, documents, newspapers, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, and other cultural artifacts that are contributed by these California institutions to the OAC make up the content included in Calisphere.
The Daily Californian newspaper is in microfilm in the Newspapers and Microforms Room (in the Newsfilm 1 section). It was established in 1871 (see below) and became independent from the University in 1971.
"The Daily Californian has its roots in The College Echo, published by the Durant Rhetorical Society at the College of California before the founding of the University of California. The society continued the publication after the formation of the university and the move to the Berkeley campus site as The University Echo. The Neolaean Literary Society began the Neolaean Review in March 1873, and the two publications merged in January 1874 as The Berkeleyan. There was a gap in the publication from 1888 thorough 1892; a new series of The Berkeleyan was begun in 1893 The named was changed to The Californian in 1897, and in October of that same year it became the Daily Californian." (Source)
Use an index to locate the dates and page numbers of relevant articles. The Daily Californian indexes are available as follows:
1874 - 1929 on microfilm in the Newspaper/Micro Room under call no.: MICROFILM 20031 (3 reels). The original of the index is a card file in Bancroft’s University Archives.
1930 - June 1991 is indexed in a card file located in Newspaper/Micro Room.
July 1991 - June 1994 is available via the Online Archive of California. The print version is also available.
September 1997 - current is searchable through the Lexis/Nexis Academic database. Detailed searching instructions.
See also the Daily Cal website for current issues. Daily Californian is planning to digitize back issues.
See the Library's more detailed guide to the Daily Californian.