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
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Primary sources are generally original records or first person accounts created at the time of an historical event or era. They may be created later, if by an eyewitness to the event or time period. Types of primary sources include:
- Letters
- Diaries
- Speeches
- Interviews
- Literary works
- Memoirs
- Artifacts
- Personal narratives
- Government documents
- Newspaper articles
- Images
- Sound Recordings
Secondary sources comment upon, explain, or interpret primary sources. They may include scholarly books, journal and magazine articles, encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, reviews, and textbooks
OSU Library Resources
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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. -
Hathi TrustMillions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
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Sabin Americana 1500-1926Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.
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JSTORDigital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
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American State PapersThe American State Papers is a retrospective collection of Congressional and Executive materials originating from 1789 through 1838. This collection offers primary material for this time period, newly digitized. Fully searchable and browsable. Companion to U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980. Coverage 1817-1980.
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U.S. Congressional Serial SetContains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 may be found in the American State Papers. In general, it includes: committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, treaty materials, certain executive department publications, and certain non-governmental publications.
U.S. Government Resources
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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.
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Sci-Tech ConnectFull-text DOE documents and bibliographic records. Supersedes DOE Information Bridge, Energy Citations Database.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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/