Research Guides: HI 4783 : African Civilization: Primary Sources

Finding Primary Texts

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of historical events, written or produced at the time of study.

These can be either published or unpublished, and can be found in many formats, such as manuscripts, books, microfilm, photographs, video and sound recordings. Some primary sources are available in more than one format; for example, a collection of manuscript letters may also have been published in book form, or may have been digitized and made available on the Internet.

Using the MSU Online Catalog and WorldCat, you can find primary texts using the following Subject terms:

sources : this will find general primary texts
personal narratives : this will find memoirs, diaries, and autobiographies
correspondence : this will find letters

Primary Texts at MSU

MSU hosts a rich collection of primary texts. Look through the finding aids on the following sites and make an appointment to get dirty in the archives.

Mississippi Political Collections
Search finding aids here: http://library.msstate.edu/cprc/collections/search.asp
Special Collections : Manuscripts
Special Collections at MSU holds manuscripts documenting all things related to Mississippi and other topics. See their finding aids and subject guides.
Special Collections : Mississippiana & Rare Books
Visit Special Collections for books, journals, newspapers, microforms, and other materials about Mississippi and by Mississippians.
Special Collections : University Archives
Find records related to activities at MSU, such as Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Stations Records, photographs, yearbooks, and other materials related to university history.
Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
Find documents related to the Grant and his administration from key periods in the history of nineteenth century America: the Mexican War, Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age.
CHARM Digital Collection
Find photographs, reports, diaries, letters, deeds, and other records from the Consortium for the History of Agriculture & Rural Mississippi (CHARM)

Additional Sources for Digitized Primary Materials

The following links go to online digital archives and primary sources hosted by other university, private and government institutions. These resources may have certain restrictions specific to the site hosts. If you would like to suggest an archive not on this list, please leave a comment for the LibGuide editor.

Internet African History Sourcebook
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. Primary texts are global in scope and cover all historical periods. This one has documents from ancient, medieval, and modern Africa.
ARTstor
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring an unparalleled range of images from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
The National Archives
Official website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
HathiTrust
Log in using your MSU credentials to download full text books, journals, and other materials. You will find a mix of primary and secondary sources.
Internet Archive
Serving as an Internet library, this site provides access to digitized historical collections and texts.
Digital Library of the Caribbean
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. dLOC provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
Mississippi Digital Library
The Mississippi Digital Library is a unified portal providing access to digital materials from libraries, museums, archives, and other research institutions across the state. Partners include public libraries, museums, community colleges, universities, and historical societies.
Europeana
Explore 53,657,626 artworks, artefacts, books, videos and sounds from across Europe.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Explore 679,735 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections. New materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
NewspaperCat
The Catalog of Digital Historical Newspapers (NewspaperCat) facilitates the discovery of online digitized historical newspaper content from newspapers published in the United States and the Caribbean.

Microfilm Resources

The following resources can help you find primary and secondary microfilm, microfiche and microcard collections in the MSU Library Collections.

Published Primary Source Microfilm in MSU Libraries
An alphabetical and subject guide to primary microfilm collections at Mitchell Memorial Library. Each entry includes the author or publisher, title of the collection, location & call number, and print index or guide (if applicable).
British Library - English Short Title Catalogue
This index will help you identify reel numbers in the Early English Books microfilm series. The library carries both the Pollard and Redgrave Short Title Catalogue I (1475-1640) and the Wing Short Title Catalogue II (1641-1700). You can also search our Online Catalog for relevant titles before viewing them on microfilm.
Mississippi Newspapers on Microfilm @ MSU
These are located in Special Collections (3rd Floor, Mitchell Memorial Library).
Other Newspapers on Microfilm @ MSU
These are located in the Government Documents & Microfilm room (2nd Floor, Mitchell Memorial Library)

Other Resources

To conduct a broader search of archival materials:

ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid includes over three million records describing archival material, with over 1,000 different archival institutions represented.

Library update: Recent database changes

HI 4783 : African Civilization

Finding Primary Texts

Primary Texts at MSU

Additional Sources for Digitized Primary Materials

Microfilm Resources

Other Resources