Primary sources are found in a range of places, including:
Cultural repositories with historic records and archives have been digitizing primary sources and sharing them online for decades. What is online usually represents a small selection of the repository's records. If you find primary sources online, you can trace the materials back to their repository and see what additional materials are available.
When you are starting your search for primary sources online, these are some things to consider:
With this information, you can begin searching online to find where these materials currently live. Archives and cultural repositories often have collecting scopes that guide their collections. They might gather materials on a particular topic, on a geographic location, on a particular organization or community. Other tips include checking citations in published research on the topic. Which archives are researchers and scholars citing?
Primary sources are available online in two different ways:
Primary sources are usually found in digital collections. Types of digital collections include:
There are four main databases to search for archival collection records: WorldCat, ArchiveGrid, Social Networks and Archival Context Project (SNAC), and Archive Finder. These overlap but each contains unique archival materials.
While these four sources contain a large number of archival collection records, many are not included. In this guide there are several additional sources, including:
While many archives have digitized archival materials available for public free access online (like at Cal Poly's Special Collections and Archives), sometimes, archives materials are only available online through paid subscription. Kennedy Library has primary source databases paid for by the library and your tuition. Access to these resources are limited to students, faculty, and staff at Cal Poly, or onsite at the library.
You can browse and search these subscription databases through the library's list of databases.
We've developed a form to walk you through the research process
We based this form on our own process of research. Research is an iterative process and can take a lot of time, and you might not find what you are looking for. Often when we are searching, we have to reconsider our research questions based on what materials we discover.