Ask a Librarian

Primary Text Research in the Humanities

Finding Primary Texts in Electronic Format

Primary texts are the uninterpreted, textual evidence used by humanities researchers to support their arguments and opinions about their research topic.

Introduction

A growing number of websites, usually mounted by libraries or commercial vendors, offer digital versions of primary texts. Examples include American Memory from the Library of Congress or Making of America, a joint project from the University of Michigan and Cornell University. Some of these texts can be accessed through the Brandeis University Libraries' website, while others are freely available on the Web.

*Remember, provide yourself enough time to do your research! It takes time to gather raw material, synthesize it, and draw conclusions about its relevance and meaning.

Electronic Primary Texts at Brandeis University Libraries

The Brandeis University Libraries are just beginning to acquire primary texts in electronic format. Consult LOUIS to find them. LOUIS lists resources like the Digital National Security Archive, which contains the full text of more than 35,000 declassified documents involving U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945.

To find electronic versions of primary texts at Brandeis:

  1. Identify the topic words you will use for your search. Use encyclopedias and other background resources to identify key participants, dates and publications (reports, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, etc.) associated with your topic.
  2. Go to LOUIS and use the Advanced Search screen.
  3. Put your topic words (people, places, events) in the top box with the Keyword(s) Anywhere Search Type selected.
  4. Type in the phrase "computer or online or database?" in the second box with the Keyword(s) Anywhere Search Type selected. The question mark will find both singular and plural forms of the word "database."
  5. Click on the Go button.

    For example, if you enter in LOUIS the search

    English poetry and (computer or online or database?)

    you will obtain results that include Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, which has the full text of thousands of poems in addition to helpful secondary sources. If you enter

    Islam and (computer or online or database?)

    Records on Islam, a database containing primary Public Record Office historical documents on the Islamic world, will be among your results.

Electronic Primary Texts on the Web

To find digitized versions of primary texts on the Web, try WorldCat, which includes Web accessible scholarly resources. For example, if you enter in WorldCat the search

women and Victorian and (poetry or literature)

and you limit type to "internet resources", you will obtain results that include the Victorian Women Writers Project, which has electronic transcriptions of many texts concerning British women writers of the 19th century.

No comprehensive catalog or listing of Web-accessible digitized collections of primary sources currently exists. There are several incomplete catalogs or listings, but no one authoritative source. Still, a few other resources to search besides WorldCat are The On-Line Books Page, the Oxford Text Archive, or the Digital Librarian's Electronic Texts and Primary Sources.

Warning

Some digitized resources, usually because of contractual agreements, may be restricted to users affiliated with a particular institution. In such cases, you might have to find alternative access. Consult a reference librarian for help with developing further search strategies.

Return to Primary Text Research Practices

Created by
Ralph Szymczak
Reference Librarian

This page was last modified on: Apr 10, 2007