Primary Resources: Home
OSU Library
A research library with 2+ million volumes and online resources. Many materials are scanned and digitized, many are not. Use both tangible and online resources for your research.
Start your search using the library catalog.
See the online resources listed below. Search based on the topic and time period.
Primary Resource Guides
OSU Library Resources
- Online CatalogWhen you do a keyword search in a library catalog (OSU Library Catalog or WorldCat), combine your keyword(s) searching phrases with terms such as "sources" or "correspondence". These terms will limit the books to primary sources, in most cases.
See resources in the bibliography as possible primary resources.
- HathiTrustA searchable library with over 18 million books, documents (including government information), and serial publications with more than 7 millions full-text works.
- Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926This database contains digital versions of titles found in Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, 1500-1926. Included are digital versions of almost 37,000 titles of books, broadsides, pamphlets devoted to life in the Western Hemisphere. The full text of each work included may be searched using keywords, subjects, authors, titles, or geographical areas. The publisher expects this database to be completed around 55,000 titles.
- JSTORFull-text access for over 17 million journal articles, books, documents, and research reports in a variety of disciplines.
- American State Papers, 1789-1838The American State Papers is the collection of legislative and executive documents that were from the first 14 U.S. Congresses that took place between 1789 and 1817, with extra documentation up to the 25th Congress in 1839.
- Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994Reports, documents, journals, and maps published by the United States Congress, covering topics like armed forces and conflicts, education, Indian affairs, social issues, and more.
U.S. Government Resources
- Science.govScience.gov searches over 60 databases and over 2200 selected websites from 15 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results.
- Sci-Tech ConnectFull-text DOE documents and bibliographic records. Supersedes DOE Information Bridge, Energy Citations Database.
- Joint Committee on Atomic EnergyWelcome to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy Digital Library. The Joint Committee on Atomic Energy existed from 1946-1977. The committee was created to "make continuing studies of the activities of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and of problems relating to the development, use, and control of atomic energy." Through hearings and other public informational activities, the committee played a significant role in encouraging peacetime uses of atomic energy. The committee dealt with such subjects as the budget authorization bills for the Atomic Energy Commission, international agreements regarding atomic energy stemming from President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms-For-Peace" speech of December 1953, and various mutual defense agreements. Examples of other matters the Committee covered include: developments at the national energy labs; health impacts of nuclear energy; nuclear waste-management; etc.
- National Climatic Data CenterThe NCDC maintains the world's largest climate data archive and provides climatological services and data to every sector of the United States economy and to users worldwide. Records in the archive range from paleoclimatology data to centuries-old journals to data less than an hour old.
- American Presidency Projectfree and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Newspapers
- New York Times HistoricalExplore a comprehensive collection of archive materials from The New York Times, spanning from 1851 to four years before the current year. This collection contains a diverse array of content including front page stories, full articles, advertisements, obituaries, editorials, sports, cultural insights, letters to the editor, and more.
- African American Newspapers (1827-1998)The database provides online access to 282 U.S. newspapers that cover the African American experience from 1827 to 1998.
Contact Information
Suzanne Reinman
Documents Department
Edmon Low Library
405 744-6546
suzanne.reinman@okstate.edu
Steve Locy
History Liaison
Edmon Low Library
405 744-3272
steve.locy@okstate.edu
Online Digital Resources
World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893
http://columbus.gl.iit.edu/
New York Public Library
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/
Climate Literacy and Energy Network
http://cleanet.org/index.html
Geo-heat Digital Library
http://digitallib.oit.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/geoheat
Consolidation Coal Mining Energy Archives
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/images/pittsburgh/consol.html
Engineering Societies Digital Collections
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/engin/societies/