Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied.
In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording, artifact, or other source of information that was created at the time under study, usually by a source with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic.
Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources, though the distinction is not a sharp one. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, with sources judged primary or secondary according to specific historical contexts and what is being studied. [From Wikipedia]
To find primary sources at Stony Brook, use STARS, the Library Catalog.
You can include various words in your search that will help you locate primary source material. A good general word to include would be sources.
For example, if you are looking for primary sources on slavery, you can do a KEYWORD ANYWHERE search in STARS for salvery and sources.
Also try these Library of Congress subject headings that are often used for primary sources:
For information on additional Primary Sources see the following:
See Also: Historic Latin American Newspapers on Microfilm in the Microforms section.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
To find magazine and journal articles between 1880 and 1980. Readers' Guide is located in the Central Reading Room (CRR). When you enter the CRR, it will be on the wall to your immediate left, at call number AI3 .R483.
Each volume of Readers' Guide is indexed by Subject. Under each subject, there will be a list of article titles, with abbreviations for the magazine or journal in which the article is located, the date of the issue, and the volume and page number(s).
When you find an article, you need to then check in STARS to see if the library has the magazine/journal for the date of the article. (I receommend using the JOURNAL CATALOG part of STARS. Once you find the magazine, check the "Summary Holdings" to see if we have the date you need.
For example, if you find an article from Time magazine from April 1957, search the JOURNAL CATALOG for Time. When you click on the link for Time, you will various Summary Holdings for Microfiche (1965-1974,1982-); Microfilm (1923-1956,1960-1964,1975-1981) and Print (1957-March 1975,Oct. 1975-1980,1982-). April 1957 would be available, then, in the Print version, which is located in the Main Stacks at call number AP2 .T37 OVERSIZE x.
You will also see a link for online versions. You can check this to see if the magazine/journal is available for your date. Please keep in mind, however, that most magazines and journals online will only go back to about 1980.
While JSTOR is often used for secondary sources, keep in mind that each journal in JSTOR goes back to its first issue. Many journals go back into the 19th century, and a few go back as far as the 17th and 18th centuries. So, it can also be used as a primary source.
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