1. Immerse Yourself In History with Primary & Secondary Sources

2. Introducing Primary & Secondary Sources
A Primary Source is:
An artifact of its time
A first-hand account about a person or historic event.
Examples:
Historic objects
Manuscripts
Interviews with participants
Autobiographies
Government records
Newspapers from the era
Letters
Photographs
Music of the era
Original film footage
A Secondary Source is:
Commentary or analysis of a historical event that is based on primary sources.
Examples:
Biographies
Encyclopedias
History textbooks
Media documentaries
Books about the topic
Interviews with scholars/experts
Articles about the topic
Websites

3. Where Should I Start? Historical Sites Libraries Historical Societies
Interviews
Historical Societies
These libraries have more resources than school libraries and often include primary sources, such as old news papers.
In Ohio, state and local historical societies specialize in collecting information about Ohio. Some historical societies and archives have specialized collections that relate to national topics.
Many sites have restored/recreated areas you can visit to help you get a feeling for what it was like during the time period. You may also have the opportunity to see objects/images from the time which can help you understand historical context.
If people connected to your topic are still living, you can conduct oral history interviews with them or send them questions via mail or . Be prepared to take notes or record the interview.

4. Online Resources - Google
Google Advanced Search
Search certain classes of websites (.gov, .org, .edu) or within a particular website
“site:” followed by domain name
Ex. (pearl harbor site:.gov)
Ex. (pearl harbor site:ohiohistory.org)
Limit your search to specific file formats (pdf, ppt, doc)
Search term “filetype:” followed by format abbreviation
Ex. (pearl harbor filetype:pdf)
Exclude pages that have specific key words
Hyphen in front of the word you don’t want to appear in the search results
Ex. (pearl harbor -memorial)
Search specific group of words
Quotation marks around the words
Ex. (“pearl harbor attack”)

5. Online Resources - Google
Google Advanced Image Search
Search to certain classes of websites (.gov, .org, .edu) or within a particular website
“site:” followed by domain name
Ex. (pearl harbor site:.gov)
Ex. (pearl harbor site:ohiohistory.org)
Search image attributes
Helpful when looking for highest quality images
Choose from drop down menu – large, specific dimensions, or file size
Size search shortcut: size option menu on the right side of results page
Google Books
Google Patent Search

6. Online Resources - Wikipedia
Wikipedia – Using Wikipedia Responsibly
Understand what it is and how it works:
Look critically at citations
Links to more information
Images on Wikipedia
Wikipedia relies on public domain images, many from national archival collections already available to you.
Although public domain images can be used, you still need to cite the repository
Finding the repository behind images on Wikipedia.
Click on the image
Read the description
Does it say where the image came from?
Does it have a link to the repository?
Is it a reputable source?

7. Other Great Online Resources
National Archives and Records Administration
Online Public Access – New Integrated Search Interface
Charters of Freedom
Our Documents – 100 Milestone Documents
Library of Congress
American Memory
memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

8. Other Great Online Resources
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Smithsonian Institution
Collections Search Center
collections.si.edu/search/
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
dp.la/

9. Contact Us!
Dr. David Simonelli, Region 4 Coordinator Department of History, DeBartolo Hall, Room 533
Youngstown State University
Brianna Treleven, Region 4 Local History Corps Rep
Department of History, DeBartolo Hall, Room 529