- Archives change often, new ones appear frequently.
- These lists are not exhaustive, just a starting point.
- A well-planned web search can help locate more.
Tips for Searching for Primary Sources Online
- DOs
- Search for museums or archives that specialize in the general area of history related to your topic.
- Research in secondary sources to determine what kinds of primary sources are available for your topic.
- Books will often include references to primary sources.
- Keep in mind what languages sources will be in.
- For U.S. state research, start at the state's State Library website.
- DON'Ts
- Be too specific. The contents of many archives are not visible to big search engines like Google, so they only see the main page.
Tips for Narrowing a Search in Google
- Try site:.org site:.gov or site:.edu in your search.
- The site: limit in Google limits the search to URLS that end with that top level domain. Sites with .gov, .org, or .edu addresses are more likely to be free archives from museums, governments, or educational institutions.
