Ask Brian!
Brian Vetruba
Contact:
Office: 1a Wilson Library
309 19th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55455
Email: bvetruba@umn.edu
309 19th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55455
Email: bvetruba@umn.edu
612-625-8161
History, Iberian, and Latin American Studies Librarian
Use this to assist you with completing your assignments for HIST 4011V/W: Research Seminar “Modern Political Revolutions: Political Contention and Global Historical Transformations”
What are primary sources?
They are sources which provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information.
They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. They are from the time period involved and have not been filtered through subsequent interpretation or evaluation.
Examples: autobiographies, letters, diaries, musical scores, works of art, speeches, recordings, photographs, articles in newspapers that describe events.
Primary Source Databases
- EuroDocs: Online Sources for European HistoryLinks to European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. Video, sound files, maps, photographs and other imagery, databases, and other documentation are also available.
- EuropeanaSingle access point to millions of artworks, artefacts, books, films and music from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives.
- German History in Documents and Images/Deutsche Geschichte in Dokumenten und BildernPrimary source materials documenting Germany's political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to the present. It comprises original German texts with new English translations, and a wide range of visual imagery.
- Making of the Modern WorldUse this source to find primary sources and full text books from the 1460-1850 period with focuses on economics interpreted in the widest sense, including political science, history, sociology, and special collections on banking, finance, transportation and manufacturing.
- Latin American Newspapers: World Newspaper ArchiveHistoric newspapers from Latin America, ranging from 19th and 20th centuries.
- World Newspaper ArchiveA collection of historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia from the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineSearch books from the Enlightenment period in Great Britain between 1701 and 1800 with over 180,000 English-language titles and editions printed in the United Kingdom and the Americas. It includes books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more.
- Southeast Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFull page images and text from over 100 newspapers in various languages and countries of the region, including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Time period is the late 19th and 20th centuries.
- Universal Databases (Russia)Provides access to full-text newspapers, journals, and digital libraries compiled and hosted by East View Information Services. Russian-studies resources include: Current Digest of the Russian Press, International Affairs digital archive, Literaturnaia Gazeta digital archive, Russian Central Newspapers, Russian National Bibliography, World News Connection, and more
- All Primary Source DatabasesList of all primary source databases available to University of Minnesota students, faculty, and staff.
- Historical European Newslinks to databases to search for historical European news
Selected Primary Source Books
The French Revolution: a History in Documents by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781350065307Publication Date: 2021A collection of 13 visual sources and over 90 documents, incorporating perspectives from across class, gender, race and nationality. Also available in print. ONLY A SINGLE USER FOR THIS EBOOK, PLEASE LOG OFF WHEN DONE.
The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate Vol. 1 1764-1772 (LOA #265) by Call Number: TC Wilson Library General Collection E203 .A5787 2015ISBN: 9781598533774Publication Date: 2015Collection of British and American pamphlets from the political debate that divided an empire and created a nation
Colonial Lives by ISBN: 0195125126Publication Date: 1999-12-23Colonial Lives offers a rich variety of archival documents in translation which bring to life the political and economic workings of Latin American colonies during 300 years of Spanish rule, as well as the day-to-day lives of the colonies' inhabitants.
Russia in War and Revolution, 1914-1922 by Call Number: TC Wilson General Collection DK265 .A54155 2009ISBN: 9780872209886Publication Date: 2009This volume covers a broad array of topics, including the Bolshevik rise to power and World War I as the catalyst and cradle, respectively, of the Revolution. Maps, illustrations, and a glossary of terms are included, as are a chronology of the Revolution, a list of works cited, and a thorough index.
Finding Primary Source Materials in Library Catalog
Using the Libraries Search enter as a SUBJECT search the name of the event, individual, group, plus a term of what you're looking for, such as "Speeches", "Correspondence", "Diaries", "Personal Narratives", and "Sources". The term "Sources" refers to a collection of primary source materials. Here are some examples:
- "Benjamin Franklin" "Speeches"
- "Germany" "Unification" "Sources"
- To search for autobiographies or memoirs, search the person as both an AUTHOR and SUBJECT and the term "biography" as a SUBJECT. For example: "Trotsky" as SUBJECT; "Trotsky" as AUTHOR.
Last Updated: Feb 11, 2025 3:26 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/HIST/4011W