Other Primary Sources

In addition to the original materials housed in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, members of the Duke community have access to complementary primary material in other formats.

• Full-text Subscription Databases
• Websites
• Microfilm Collections

Full-text Subscription Databases

The Duke University Libraries subscribe to databases that provide digital surrogates of newspapers, periodicals, books, and manuscript material. From the library home page, link to Articles & Databases. Select Find Database and Advanced. Use the pull-down Select Type menu to select Primary Sources. There are currently 61 databases covering a wide range of subjects including alternative, radical and left publications; letters and diaries from the American Civil War; British and Irish Women’s Diaries and Letters; and historical newspapers. Please consult a reference librarian if you need additional help identifying or using these databases.

Websites

Many websites created by other universities or scholarly organizations provide digital access to primary source material. Among those that Special Collections staff often recommend:

• The American Memory Project
• Documenting the American South
• North Carolina ECHO, Exploring Cultural Heritage Online
• Sheet Music Consortium
• The Valley of the Shadow

Each of the research centers also maintains a list of recommended websites:

• John Hope Franklin Collection of African and African American Documentation
• John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History
• Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture

Microfilm Collections

Before the Internet, microfilm was the format of choice for reproducing large collections of primary source material. Microfilm collections continue to offer access to a wealth of texts that have not been digitized. Guides to microfilm collections held by the Duke University Libraries include:

• Primary Source Material for African American History
• Women’s Collections on Microfilm
• Medieval and Renaissance Microfilm Sets at Duke University Libraries
• Microform Collections—Individuals
• Newspapers Subject Guides: Pre-Revolutionary America—Before 1763
• Newspaper Subject Guides: Revolutionary America (1763–1789)
• Newspaper Subject Guides: America (1789–1860)
• Newspapers Subject Guides: America: 1860–1920
• Newspapers Subject Guides: America: 1920 to the Present
• United States Census Materials, 1800–1910
• Newspapers Subject Guides—Tudor and Stuart England: 1485–1714
• 18th Century Britain (1714–1815)
• Newspapers Subject Guides—19th Century Britain: 1815–1905
• Newspapers Subject Guides—20th Century Britain