A primary source is an original statistical report or a first-hand narrative written by an individual during the period of time in question, as well as virtually any other material produced during the time period being examined. A secondary source is an account or analysis written by a journalist or scholar at a later date who was not an eyewitness to the actual event about which he or she is writing. The secondary account may then be said to be based on primary sources. Indexing and abstracting tools are excellent sources for finding scholarly articles, book chapters, newspaper articles, legal materials and more. The following databases are specifically designed for historical materials.
Some general databases are also often good choices.
Not all indexing tools are online. There are sometimes reasons for, even advantages to, using paper indexes such as The New York Times Index , Index to Black Periodicals and Palmer's Index to the Times . Finally, consider using databases that are specific either to your individual research topic or that may be specific to this course. Denison librarians have created subject resources web pages which include links to many of the source tools listed above as well as some internet sites. See these Subject Guides .