General Aids
to the Use of Primary Sources - an Introduction
Research based on primary sources is being reinvented with the advent of fulltext digitization and the World Wide Web. The treasures of African American primary sources, while still not in abundant supply, are appearing on the Web in ever-growing numbers, from audio interviews to personal letters and papers. This guide emphasizes web-based materials and includes a selection of some key printed resources. It also refers to sources of national scope if they offer geographic access by state or region.
Many of the materials and links referred to in this guide are available through the University of Washington Libraries and the Orbis Cascade Alliance union catalog (Summit) or from other Resource Institutions in the Pacific Northwest.
Commercially produced online electronic databases and resources are usually restricted by the publisher to the subscribing institution, but are accessible to non-university researchers using public access computers located on the premises of the subscribing institutions. Many of the commercially produced resources referenced here are available at many academic and some public libraries.
All databases and web pages created by federal agencies, some nonprofit organizations and UW librarians are freely available to all over the World Wide Web.
Created by Glenda Pearson University of Washington Libraries
February 2004