Researchers use primary sources to explore, analyze and draw conclusions about the past.
Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters and personal papers, organization records, company records, newspapers, oral histories, photographs, artifacts, broadsides and publications. Like research itself, finding and accessing archival materials is a process that requires time and critical thinking. Here we have provided some tips and strategies that will help you begin this process using resources available at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library and on the Internet. For descriptions of archival and manuscript materials available at the University of Massachusetts Amherst specifically, we invite you to visit us on the 25th floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, browse our website , or contact us for more information.