Primary sources were either created during the time period being studied or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (as in the case of memoirs). They reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period
A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or phenomenon. It is generally at least one step removed from the event is often based on primary sources. Examples include: scholarly or popular books and articles, reference books, and textbooks.
After you've found your primary sources, learn to analyze them using The Bancroft Library's Primary Source Analysis Exercises.
Think about what types of primary sources might have been produced that would be relevant to your topic; think also about which persons or organizations might have produced materials. Some possible types of sources:
| Books | Photographs and images |
| Magazine and newspaper articles | Cartoons and advertisements |
| Diaries and journals | Movies, videos, DVDs |
| Memoirs and autobiographies | Audio recordings |
| Interviews | Public opinion polls |
| Letters | Fiction |
| Speeches | Research data and statistics |
| Documents produced by organizations | Documents produced by governments |
Finding Background Information
Gather the information you have about your topic and consider what you still need to know before you start researching. You can use this information in searching for primary sources.
Reference works and secondary sources can help you find background information on your topic. You may find reference sources by:
To find magazine, journal or newspaper articles: use an article database. Article databases allow you to search for articles by topic, author, etc. Some (not all) article databases link to the full text of articles.
Primary Source Databases at UCB Library
Look carefully at the description of each database. Note:
In some article databases you may click on the 
button, which will help you locate the full text of the article online or the physical location of the journal or newspaper on campus.
Primary sources on campus may be in their original format; examples might include:
Some primary sources have been reproduced in another format, for instance:
Online primary sources may be found via free web sites as well as via Library databases.
Primary sources may be physically located in any of a number of UC Berkeley Libraries, or they may be available online.
Archives are collections of original unpublished, historical and contemporary material – in other words, collections of primary sources. Before you go to any archival collection on campus you can save time and effort if you first:
Ask for assistance (24/7 chat, appointments, etc.) at any time!
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980. Makes available British government files from various Foreign Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980. Includes letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activist biographies and first-hand accounts.
Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966. Full-text of reports, dispatches, correspondence, political summaries, economic analyses, and maps from the United Kingdom's Colonial, Dominion and Foreign Offices relating to Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969. Digitized collection of The Confidential Print series, issued by the UK Foreign and Colonial Offices related to South and Central America
Confidential Print: Middle East. Digitized collection of The Confidential Print series, issued by the UK Foreign and Colonial Offices covering the Middle East, c. 1839 to 1969, taking in the countries of the Arabian peninsula, the Levant, Iraq, Turkey and many of the former Ottoman empire.
Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Africa and the Middle East. Declassified materials from U.S. diplomats in Africa and the Middle East.
Digital National Security Archive (DNSA). Indexes declassified documents spanning fifty years of US national security policy.
East India Company Archives. Digital archive of the India Office Records on the East India Company from its inception until it dissolution.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. Acess to thousands of 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st century Parliamentary Papers of Great Britain.
India, Raj and Empire. Manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland relating to South Asian history between 1615 and 1947 on India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Public Hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment. Testimony and documents from individuals involved in the Japanese American Internment during World War II.
U.S. Declassified Documents Online. Documents declassified via the Freedom of Information Act and regular declassification requests.
World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean. A comprehensive range of contemporary and historical documents for the region, providing research across the humanities, both for current and historical Latin America and the Caribbean.