Skip to Main Content

Find Primary and Secondary Sources

What are primary and secondary sources, and how can you find them?

Introduction to Finding Primary Sources on the Web

Many primary source documents have been digitized and made available online. Check museum and library websites, such as those listed below.

Notable Collections of Primary Source Documents on the Web

DPLA primary source sets

Digital Public Library of America

Library of Congress Collections

Library of Congress Collections

NY Digital Heritage

NY Digital Heritage

Internet Classics Archive

Internet Classics Archive

National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian

GLBT Historical Society

GLBT Historical Society

National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Women's History Museum

National Women's History Museum

Finding Primary Sources on the Web

Google Images
Another way to find primary source images is to use a search engine's "Images" search.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Except where otherwise noted, the content in these guides by Mohawk Valley Community College Libraries is licensed under CC BY NC SA 4.0. This openly licensed content allows others to cite, share, or modify this content non-commercially, with credit to MVCC Libraries.

When reusing or adapting this content, include this statement in the new document: This content was originally created by Mohawk Valley Community College Libraries and shared with a CC BY NC SA 4.0 license.

Mohawk Valley Community College Libraries - 1101 Sherman Drive, Utica, NY, 13501- P. 315.792.5561