Research in History at the University of Minnesota
- Special collections and archival units at the University of Minnesota
Secondary Sources
-- Secondary sources are those records generated by an event but written by non-participants in or witnesses of the event. Secondary sources are based on or derived from primary sources but have been interpreted or analyzed. Examples of secondary sources include magazine and journal articles and books which analyze or interpret primary sources. The voting records of the member states of the United Nations is a primary source; an article which discusses voting patterns of member states of the UN is a secondary source.
- Locating Secondary Sources in the Libraries
- Books
-- Use MNCAT Web or MNCAT Classic to identify and locate books held by the University of Minnesota Libraries. Use other library catalogs to identify and locate books held by other libraries in the metropolitan area, region, national, and world.
- Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
-- To identify articles on your topic appearing in journals, magazines, newspapers, and other serial publications, you will need to use periodical indexes or abstracting services. Some examples of electronic indexes of interest in the study of history are:
- Finding the articles in the library or online
-- Use MNCAT Web or MNCAT Classic to identify and locate books held by the University of Minnesota Libraries. Use other library catalogs to identify and locate books held by other libraries in the metropolitan area, region, national, and world.
- E-journals and Newspapers
-- The University Libraries are subscribing to a growing number of full text history related e-journals and newspapers.
- Links can be found on individual MNCAT journal title records. The Libraries also maintain an alphabetical list of Electronic Journals as well as
- See News Sources for links to and information about online newspapers, indexing and other news sources available through the Libraries.
- There are many other indexes, in both print and electronic formats. For more on specific titles, see:
- For other areas of history, see the general History resources page:
- Other Secondary Sources
-- Other secondary sources might include certain government publications, newspaper articles, reviews, theses, and dissertations.
Primary Sources
-- Primary sources are those records generated by a particular event or time period, by those who participated in or witnessed it. Primary sources contain the original information and are usually the place where the original information first appears. Primary information has generally not been analyzed or interpreted. Examples of primary sources include interviews, diaries, letters, speeches, memoirs, autobiographies, congressional and parliamentary hearings and reports, documentary histories, records of organizations, treaties, voting records, county records, newspapers, inscriptions, archaeological artifacts, census material and other raw data.
- Where to Find Primary Sources at the University of Minnesota Libraries
- Wilson Library
-- Some primary sources are published in book format and can be found on the shelves in Wilson Library. Some others are available in digital format or in microform.
- Early American Imprints Series I. Evans (1639-1800) Digital Edition
Every book, pamphlet, serial, and other printed work of signficance
published in America 1639 - 1800, 36,000 items, 2. 4 million page images when complete. Based on Charles Evans, American Bibliography with additions from Roger Bristol's Supplement. The file allows searching by author, title, key words in titles, publication years and places, and subject and format categories. A sub-group of 6000 works re-keyed and marked up by the Text Creation Partnership will allow full-text searching by all words in the text.
- Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA)
The Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA) is a collection of electronic texts and links to texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820. Open to the public for research and teaching purposes, EADA is published and supported by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) under the general editorship of Professor Ralph Bauer, at the University of Maryland at College Park. Intended as a long-term and inter-disciplinary project in progress committed to exploring the intersections between traditional humanities research and digital technologies, it invites scholars from all disciplines to submit their editions of early American texts for publication on this site.
- Making of America
A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. Select from either the Michigan site or the Cornell site.
- Government Publications
-- Most government publications are considered primary sources. The Government Publications Library, in the basement of Wilson Library, includes U.S., United Nations, European Union, and other intergovernmental organization publications. Many government publications are in the book stacks of Wilson Library as well.
- John R. Borchert Map Library
-- Historic and current topographic maps covering most areas of the world. Atlases, gazetteers, aerial photographs and the Automated Cartographic Information Center.
- Newspaper Collection
-- The newspaper collection, located in the Periodical Room in the basement of Wilson library, includes many older newspapers. Many older, early newspapers are not listed in MNCAT, you should use the card catalog located just behind the Periodicals Information Desk to find out what newspapers the library has. Many newspapers are available through interlibrary loan from the Center for Research Libraries.
- Center for Research Libraries
-- The University Library's membership in the Center for Research Libraries makes a very important collection of historical primary source materials, mostly in microfilm or microfiche, easily available through Interlibrary Loan. The University Library's membership in the Center for Research Libraries makes a very important collection of historical primary source materials, mostly in microfilm or microfiche, easily available through Interlibrary Loan. To obtain materials from the Center for Research Libraries, check the CRL Catalog or CRL Handbook, and fill out an interlibrary loan request form.
- Examples of off-campus Repositories of Primary Sources
- Examples of Primary Sources on the Internet
If It Isn't in the Library, Then What?
-- Use the Interlibrary Loan service to get books and articles not available in the University of Minnesota Libraries.
Citing Your Sources
-- Style manuals provide the basic information necessary for documentation and style in scholarly writing.
- RefWorks: Personal Citation Manager
RefWorks is a web-based citation manager that allows you to create your own databases of citations by importing references from MNCAT and other databases, and then in seconds automatically generate bibliographies in all major styles (MLA, APA, Turabian, Chicago, etc.).
Evaluating Information Resources
-- Evaluation of Information Resources contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet. It is intended to be particularly useful to librarians and others who are selecting sites to include in an information resource guide, or informing users as to the qualities they should use in evaluating Internet information.
Other Useful Links
-- University of Minnesota Internet Sites
History Specialists in the University of Minnesota Libraries
- Asia, East: Su Chen, (612) 624-5863, suchen@tc.umn.edu
- Europe, Western (outside of Spain ad Portugal): Gordon Anderson, (612) 625-8161, ganderso@umn.edu
- History of Science and Technology: Gary Fouty, (612) 624-1851, g-fout@umn.edu
- General History and United States/North America: Rafael E. Tarrago, (612) 624-4317, r-tarr@tc.umn.edu
Page Coordinator: Rafael Tarrago r-tarr@tc.umn.edu
This URL: http://www.lib.umn.edu/libdata/page.phtml?page_id=374
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