Primary Sources
Primary Source Archival Video Collections
United Kingdom National Archives
Search for archival films in the UK National Archives' YouTube Channel.
United States National Archives
With 44 locations across the United States, extensive holdings, helpful research tools, and specialized departments, the National Archives has a wealth of information and services to provide the American public.
In the pre-TV era, people saw the news every week in their neighborhood movie theaters. Newsreels were shown before every feature film and in dedicated newsreel theaters located in large cities. Universal Newsreel, produced from 1929 to 1967, was released twice a week.
University & Archival Primary Source Collections (United States)
-
The Avalon Project, Yale University
Primary source documents in law, history and diplomacy.
-
The Digital Media Repository provides online access to a variety of primary source materials, including photographs, oral history interviews, artwork, video and film footage, cartographic resources, architectural drawings, publications, and 3-dimensional objects.
-
Fordham University: Internet History Source Book Project
A selection of Public domain and copyright Permitted texts, maps, and articles on a wide variety of subjects in European history.
-
Hanover College Historical Texts Collection
Documents from all historical eras arranged by time and subject.
-
Sources from the largest library collection in the world!
LOC: Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers
-
Chronicling America is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
-
NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S.
-
Newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages.
-
Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress.
-
An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.
.png)
-
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper.
-
The NARA holds in trust the most important records of the federal government (i.e. the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) as well as the records of ordinary citizens such as military records of the brave men and women who have fought for our country, naturalization records of the immigrants whose dreams have shaped our nation, and even the canceled check from the purchase of Alaska.
-
DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.
.png)
National Archives: 100 Milestone Documents
The following is a list of 100 milestone documents, compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration, and drawn primarily from its nationwide holdings. The documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Explore 707,321 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections.This site is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more
-
"History," said Alexis de Tocqueville, "is a gallery of pictures in which there are a few originals and many copies." The History Collection assembled here will help you get closer to some of those originals.
-
Selected by librarians, scholars, and other subject specialists along a wide range of criteria, this collection includes published materials as well as archival documents.
-
The items were digitized from a variety of formats including books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps, prints, posters, audio and video.
European History Archive Collections
Archive put together by Brigham Young University Historians
The European Archives: Internet Memory Foundation
The European Archiveis a digital library of cultural artifacts for students and scholars.
European History Primary Source
-
European History Primary Sources (EHPS) is a joint initiative of the Library and the Department of History and Civilization of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
-
It is also part of the WWW Virtual Library History Central Catalogue that is hosted at the EUI.
-
The purpose of EHPS is to provide an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe.
Using a Primary Source: Search Tips
What is Primary Source?
-
Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories.
-
Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
-
These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.
Is it reliable?
-
Before relying on the information provided by a website, examine and understand the purpose of the website.
-
While the purpose might not affect the accuracy of the primary source material it contains, it might indicate that the material has been altered or manipulated in some way to change or influence its meaning.
-
Sometimes sites use primary source material to persuade the reader to a particular point of view, distorting the contents in obvious or subtle ways.
-
Also, sites can use primary source material haphazardly, without appropriately choosing, inspecting, or citing the work.
-
In general, look for websites with a non-biased, balanced approach to presenting sources.
-
Websites produced by educational or governmental institution often are more reliable than personal websites, but government sites may be subject to propaganda.
Questions to Ask:
Author?
In a website of primary sources it is important to determine where the author got the documents. The best sites clearly state the source of the original material.
Format?
Different factors need to be considered based on the format of the document and type of site:
Scanned image of a document?
-
The image of scanned documents usually illustrates what the original documents look like.
-
The origin of the documents at a website may be determined by the creator of the website.
-
For example, the Library of Congress website generally supplies documents from its own manuscript collections, but providing in-house documents is not always possible.
-
Sometimes, websites will present texts from other document collections, or may provide links to documents at other websites.
Transcribed document?
-
Transcribed documents do not illustrate the original image of the document but only provide the content in plain text format.
-
It is important to discover the original source of transcribed documents to determine if the transcription is complete and accurate.
-
The source, which may be the original documents or published editions, should be cited.
Links to external documents?
-
Metasites that link to external documents and web sites that use frames require you to track down the original website for the documents for evaluation purposes.
-
A reliable website may link to a document in another not so reliable site and vice-versa.
Reviewed?
-
Check to see if the web site is reviewed
-
Look up the web site in reputable history subject directories .
-
Find out what other webpages link to the web site.
-
How many links are there? What kinds of sites are they?
Design?
-
Design not only makes an electronic resource easier to use, it is also one indication that the content has been provided, and is being maintained, by a trustworthy source.
-
Although standards of what constitutes "good web design" vary widely, clarity, simplicity and easily-understandable navigational cues are some of the obvious signs.
Some considerations are:
-
Pages that are legible with clear explanations.
-
Obvious navigational aid that provide access to documents and obvious links on every webpage to the homepage.
-
Individual urls for each document for ease of linking and citation information.
-
Clear instructions about special software requirements.
Do they charge a fee?
-
Fee-based sites must be weighed against their value.
-
It is possible that the same content, or similar content, is available through another electronic source free of charge.
-
Public, school, and academic libraries may offer free access to fee based electronic collections of primary resources.
Noodletools
Creating a project in Noodletools:
-
Log in to your FCPS gmail
-
Go to the Google Apps 9 square waffle (upper right hand side)
-
Select: Noodletools
-
** Let me know if you do not automatically land on your Noodletools Project page
-
Select: "New Project" (upper left hand side)
-
Give your project a title
-
Keep the default citation style (MLA)
-
UNLESS you are doing a science or psychology extended essay - then pick APA as your citation style.
-
-
Keep the default citation level (Advanced)
-
Select: Submit
Sharing your project with your teacher's inbox:
On the Dashboard page - Sharing and Collaboration box (2nd box down)
-
Select: Share with a project inbox
-
Start typing: 2021 Extended Essay
-
Select: Done
Create a citation in Noodletools:
-
In Noodletools select: Sources (banner in the center top of the page)
-
Select: Create new citation
-
First, Noodletools asks you: where does information comes from?
-
Second, Noodletools asks: What type of information is it?
-
Option 1: If the source you are using provides a citation (i.e. databases)
-
Select: Quick cite: copy and paste
-
DO NOT build the citation by hand when it is already provided
-
-
Paste the citation in the large box
-
Check for an inaccuracies
-
Use the MLA Guide on the upper right hand side of the screen for guidance
-
-
Save
-
-
Option 2: Citing a book?
-
Select: Print or In hand
-
Select: Book
-
Use WorldCat to search for the book using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) located on the back of the book
-
Enter the ISBN number without any dashes
-
Option 3: If the source does not provide a citation (i.e. most websites)
-
Build the citation using the prompts provided by Noodletools
-
Provide AS MUCH information as you possibly can.
-
A URL is not a citation
-
Create a notecard in Noodletools:
-
In Noodletools select: Notecard (banner in the center top of the page)
-
Select: New
-
Give the notecard a title that makes sense to you
-
Select: source (where the notecard information originates)
-
Choose which box to put your notes in
-
Copy & paste direct quotes
-
Paraphrase
-
Original thoughts
-
-
Save & close
-
** When you have more that 1 notecard you can make piles
-
Hint: this is when the title of your notecards will be important - and you can combine notecards from different sources that are about the same topic
-
Exporting bibliography and/or notecards to Google Docs
Bibliography step 1:
Bibliography step 2:
-
Use the drop down menu to select - Print/Export to Google Docs
Notecards step 1:
Notecards step 2:
-
Use the drop down menu to select: Export to Google Docs
Citation Guide
How do I cite information found in a database?
Common elements to look for include:
-
Author and/or editor names (if available); last names first.
-
"Article name in quotation marks."
-
Title of the website, project, or book in italics.
-
Any version numbers available, including editions (ed.), revisions, posting dates, volumes (vol.), or issue numbers (no.).
-
Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.
-
Take note of any page numbers (p. or pp.)
-
DOI (if available), otherwise a URL (without the https://) or permalink.
-
Date you accessed the material (Date Accessed). While not required, saving this information it is highly recommended, especially when dealing with pages that change frequently or do not have a visible copyright date.
**Databases contain many different types of information.
-
The following example is for a reference source found in a database:
Purdue OWL: Citing electronic sources - including databases
-
Refer to the Purdue OWL for detailed guidance on proper citations for information found in a database.
How do I cite a book?
Common elements to look for include:
-
Author(s)
-
Title and subtitle
-
Illustrator, translator or other contributor
-
Series name (if applicable)
-
Edition (if applicable)
-
Publisher’s name and imprint
-
Most recent copyright date
-
Refer to the Purdue OWL for detailed guidance on proper citations for books.
How do I cite a website?
Common elements to look for include:
-
Author
-
Title of the article
-
Editor of the page or site
-
Name of the Web site or Project
-
Publisher or sponsor
-
Date of the publication
-
URL
-
Date of access (when you used the website)
Purdue OWL: Citation electronic sources
-
Refer to the Purdue OWL MLA citation guide for specific variations on how to cite a website, webpage, an image or an article within a web magazine.
How do I cite audio files?
Common elements to look for include:
-
Name of the musician or performer
-
Title
-
Other contributors - (examples include: composer, conductor, narrator, producer)
-
Date
-
Name of the Web site or Project
-
Publisher or sponsor
-
URL
-
Date of access (when you used the website)
Purdue Online Writing Lab
How to cite audio files:
The following is excerpted from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (and linked above)
Sound Recordings
A Song or Album
-
Music can be cited multiple ways. Mainly, this depends on the container that you accessed the music from. Generally, citations begin with the artist name.
-
They might also be listed by composers or performers.
-
Otherwise, list composer and performer information after the album title.
-
Put individual song titles in quotation marks. Album names are italicized.
-
Provide the name of the recording manufacturer followed by the publication date.
-
If information such as record label or name of album is unavailable from your source, do not list that information.
Spotify
Rae Morris. “Skin.” Cold, Atlantic Records, 2014, Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0OPES3Tw5r86O6fudK8gxi.
Online Album
Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.
CD
Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind, Geffen, 1991.
Podcasts
“Best of Not My Job Musicians.” Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! from NPR, 4 June 2016, http://www.npr.org/podcasts/344098539/wait-wait-don-t-tell-me.
Spoken-Word Albums such as Comedy Albums
Treat spoken-word albums the same as musical albums.
Hedberg, Mitch. Strategic Grill Locations. Comedy Central, 2003.
Digital Files (PDFs, MP3s, JPEGs)
Determine the type of work to cite (e.g., article, image, sound recording) and cite appropriately. End the entry with the name of the digital format (e.g., PDF, JPEG file, Microsoft Word file, MP3). If the work does not follow traditional parameters for citation, give the author’s name, the name of the work, the date of creation, and the location.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Moonlight Sonata. Crownstar, 2006.
Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.
Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, and National Writing Project. Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing. CWPA, NCTE, and NWP, 2011, wpacouncil.org/files/framework-for-success-postsecondary-writing.pdf.
Bentley, Phyllis. “Yorkshire and the Novelist.” The Kenyon Review, vol. 30, no. 4, 1968, pp. 509-22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.iii/stable/4334841.
How do I cite an interview?
Common elements to look for:
-
Name of the person interviewed
-
Date the interview happened
Purdue Online Writing Lab
The following is excerpted from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (and linked above)
An Interview
Interviews typically fall into two categories: print or broadcast published and unpublished (personal) interviews, although interviews may also appear in other, similar formats such as in e-mail format or as a Web document.
Personal Interviews
Personal interviews refer to those interviews that you conduct yourself. List the interview by the name of the interviewee. Include the descriptor Personal interview and the date of the interview.
Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 19 May 2014.
Published Interviews (Print or Broadcast)
List the interview by the full name of the interviewee. If the name of the interview is part of a larger work like a book, a television program, or a film series, place the title of the interview in quotation marks. Place the title of the larger work in italics.
If the interview appears as an independent title, italicize it. For books, include the author or editor name after the book title.
Note: If the interview from which you quote does not feature a title, add the descriptor, Interview by (unformatted) after the interviewee’s name and before the interviewer’s name.
Gaitskill, Mary. Interview with Charles Bock. Mississippi Review, vol. 27, no. 3, 1999, pp. 129-50.
Amis, Kingsley. “Mimic and Moralist.” Interviews with Britain’s Angry Young Men, By Dale Salwak, Borgo P, 1984.
Online-only Published Interviews
List the interview by the name of the interviewee. If the interview has a title, place it in quotation marks. Cite the remainder of the entry as you would other exclusive web content. Place the name of the website in italics, give the publisher name (or sponsor), the publication date, and the URL.
Note: If the interview from which you quote does not feature a title, add the descriptor Interview by (unformatted) after the interviewee’s name and before the interviewer’s name.
Zinkievich, Craig. Interview by Gareth Von Kallenbach. Skewed & Reviewed, 27 Apr. 2009, www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/1056940-skewed-%2526-reviewed-interviews-craig. Accessed 15 May. 2009.
How do I cite an image?
Common elements to look for include:
-
Artist
-
Title of the artwork
-
Date
-
Name of the Web site or Project
-
Publisher or sponsor
-
URL
-
Date of access (when you used the website)
Purdue OWL: Citing electronic sources - including images
-
Refer to the Purdue OWL for more detailed guidance on citing images.
.png)
Long Quotations
What Is a Long Quotation?
If your quotation extends to more than four lines as you're typing your essay, it is a long quotation.
Rules for Long Quotations
There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:
-
The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the quote, usually ends with a colon.
-
The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
-
There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
-
The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text citation as opposed to after, as it does with regular quotations.
Example of a Long Quotation
-
At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:
-
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body.
-
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)
What do I need to know to create MLA 8 citations?
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
Information provided by the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
What do I need to know to create APA citations?
APA Citation Guide from Purdue OWL
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources for science and psychology papers.
Citation Style Chart: MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style comparison chart
John R. Lewis High School is an International Baccalaureate (IBO) World school which follows IBO requirements and expectations.
At John Lewis High School we expect students to follow a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity.
Academic honesty means that one’s own work is authentic and not a reproduction of other person’s work or ideas. When another person’s ideas are used, they are given credit with a citation.
Terms to understand:
-
Plagiarism - the representation of the ideas or work of another person as your own.
-
Duplication of work - copying another student’s work and presenting it as your own.
-
Giving your work to others - allowing your work to be copied and/or submitted for assessment by another student.
-
Misconduct during an examination, including the possession of unauthorized material.
-
Disclosing information to another student, or receiving information from another student, about the content of an examination or test.
How to maintain academic honesty:
-
Credit all the sources I use, even if I have paraphrased or summarized.
-
Clearly distinguish between my work and the source being used (using quotation marks, indentation or a similar method).
-
Use the appropriate citation style (MLA, APA).
-
Ask for Advice
-
If student is being graded individually, a student submits his/her own work.
Things to Remember
-
JLHS students are principled and act with integrity and honesty.
-
JLHS students should be content creators not content imitators.
-
If you engage in any form of academic dishonesty your administrator with input from your teacher or staff member has the right to impose consequences.
-
Do it right, remember to cite! Credit where credit is due!
The Purdue Writing Lab
Purdue University students, faculty, and staff at our West Lafayette, IN campus may access this area for information on the award-winning Purdue Writing Lab. This area includes Writing Lab hours, services, and contact information.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab
Welcome to the Purdue OWL. We offer free resources including Writing and Teaching Writing, Research, Grammar and Mechanics, Style Guides, ESL (English as a Second Language), and Job Search and Professional Writing.
Suggested Resources
Most Popular Resources
Contact the Purdue OWL
For any site-related and technical questions, or content and copyright-related questions — contact the Assistant Director of Content Development
What do I need to know about intext citations?
MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics from the Purdue OWL
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation because you place the relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase. EX: (Wordsworth 263)
-
In-text citations direct the reader to the full citation in the works-cited list.
About In text citations:
In MLA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to document the source of your information. In-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the works cited list at the end of the paper.
-
In-text citations include the last name of the author followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses.
-
Example: "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
-
-
If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the works cited list, such as quotation marks.
-
Example: This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).
-
-
Note: The period goes outside the brackets, at the end of your in-text citation.
Quoting Directly
When you quote directly from a source, enclose the quoted section with quotation marks. Add an in-text citation at the end of the quote with the author name and page number:
-
Example: Mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (Hunt 358).
No Page Numbers
When you quote from electronic sources that does not provide page numbers (like Web pages), cite the author's name only.
-
Example: "Three phases of the separation response: protest, despair, and detachment" (Garelli).
Paraphrasing:
When you write information or ideas from a source in your own words, cite the source by adding an in-text citation at the end of the paraphrased portion.
Paraphrasing from One Page
Include a full in-text citation with the author name and page number (if there is one).
For example:
Mother-infant attachment became a leading topic of developmental research following the publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 65).
Paraphrasing from Multiple Pages
If the paraphrased information/idea is from several pages, include them. For example:
Mother-infant attachment became a leading topic of developmental research following the publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 50, 55, 65-71).
Indirect sources
Sources that are paraphrased or quoted in other sources are called indirect sources. Whenever you can, take material from the original source, not a secondhand one.
When using an indirect source, if what you quote or paraphrase is itself a quotation, put the abbreviation qtd. in ("quoted in") before the indirect source you cite in your parenthetical reference.
Example:
Samuel Johnson admitted that Edmund Burke was an "extraordinary man" (qtd. in Boswell 2: 450).
In this case, you would also need to cite Boswell 2 in your works cited list.
Unknown author
Where you'd normally put the author's last name, instead use the first one, two, or three words from the title. Don't count initial articles like "A", "An" or "The". You should provide enough words to make it clear which work you're referring to from your Works Cited list.
If the title in the Works Cited list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in the in-text citation.
If the title in the Works Cited list is in quotation marks, put quotation marks around the words from the title in the in-text citation.
Examples:
(Cell Biology 12)
("Nursing" 12)
Repeated use of sources:
If you're using information from a single source more than once in succession (i.e., no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation.
Example:
Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structure and function of cells (Smith 15). It revolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamental unit of life" (17). Many important scientists have contributed to the evolution of cell biology. Mattias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, for example, were scientists who formulated cell theory in 1838 (20).
! Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the source being referred to, use the full in-text citation format.
In-text citations for more than 1 source
If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon.
Examples:
(Smith 42; Bennett 71).
(It Takes Two; Brock 43).
! Note: The sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical order for MLA style.
Research Tips: Website evaluation
Research Tips: Scholarly v. Popular Sources
.png)
