This document provides an overview and guide for using special collections and library resources to locate primary and secondary sources for research. It discusses that primary sources are original records that provide a particular point of view, while secondary sources discuss and analyze primary sources. The guide covers locating primary sources through published histories, special collections at the campus library, and various online archives and databases. It also discusses visiting special collections and considering key details about primary sources like who created them, what they are, when, where, and why to properly understand and use them in research.

1. History 3001
Guide to Special Collections and Library
Resources

2. What will cover
1. Think about what constitutes a primary source/archival
source and how we understand that source
2. Go over locating primary sources and secondary sources,
with an emphasis on what we have available in our library.
3. Visit Special Collections
4. Have a chance to talk about research topic and how to start
finding sources.

3. What are the types of
sources?
(three types)

4. Tertiary (Overview)
Secondary (Discussion)
Primary (Original)
Types

5. Primary Sources?

6. Primary Sources
A primary sources is a persistent
record of an event or occurrence in
some format and comes from a
particular point of view.

7. Thinking about secondary sources
Where do you start looking?
How do you look?
Visit the library: http://library.gcsu.edu

8. Locating Primary
Sources

9. Where to start?
Published Histories

10. Major Resources on campus
Special Collections
http://www.gcsu.edu/library/sc/index.htm
Knowledge Box - http://kb.gcsu.edu

11. Online Resources
Digital Library of Georgia - http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/Counties/Baldwin.html
Historic Milledgeville Newspapers -
http://milledgeville.galileo.usg.edu/milledgeville/search
Digital Public Library of America
http://dp.la/
Ancestry.com Library Edition
http://www.ancestrylibrary.com/
American Memory Project - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Civil Rights Digital Library -http://crdl.usg.edu/?Welcome
World Cat - http://www.worldcat.org/
Internet Memory - http://internetmemory.org/en/
Archive.org - https://archive.org/
And many, many more

12. Research Guides
http://libguides.gcsu.edu/localhistory
http://libguides.gcsu.edu/usingua
http://libguides.gcsu.edu/sc_researcher_resou
rces

13. Visit Special
Collections

14. What’s an Archive
Archives collect complete, authentic, records of
the past. (RPM)

15. What is a record?
A Record is persistent representations of
activities, created by participants or observers
of those activities or by their authorized proxies.

16. Working With Primary Sources
Ask yourself about the source you are working with….
Who - made it
What - is it
When - did get created
Where - did it originate
Why - was it made
What else do I need?

17. Who
Who made
this?
What group
made this?
Is the creator
important
for some
reason?

18. What?
What is this?
Is the “what” important?
Think format, design,
layout?
What does it tell you?

19. When?
What’s the date of the record?
Can we guess at the date?

20. Where
Where was
this made?
Why is the
where
important?

21. Why?
Why was this created?
What was the purpose
for the creation of
this record?

22. What else?
What other information do I need to understand this
source?
What contextual information do I need to