You might be wondering: Why are some types of materials and some perspectives harder to find than others?
Several factors converge to make certain types of materials and perspectives harder to locate in libraries and archives. In particular, items of popular culture and ephemera (by definition items and materials not designed to have a long life) can be difficult to locate. The voices of the marginalized, those from minority communities, and those in oppressed positions or not in power can be hard, if not seemingly impossible, to locate.
That's because those in power make, keep, and organize records, and they have the infrastructure for doing so and for maintaining materials over time. Those in more vulnerable positions may not have the resources, luxury of time, safety, or education necessary to create resources documenting their experiences. And even if they do, there may not be infrastructures necessary to maintain and preserve the materials, and those in power may specifically work against the preservation and access of the materials. In addition, the collections in libraries and archives represent the contexts and biases of their creators and their moments of creation.
Don't let these realities stop you from pursuing the histories of those historically oppressed, marginalized, and silenced. If you need help locating primary sources that document the identities, perspectives, and experiences of the histories you aspire to tell, contact me, and we'll discuss strategies and resources.
A primary source is any item that provides a firsthand account or direct evidence about a topic. A primary source is often created in the time/moment of the events or actions that it documents, but certain types of primary sources--including autobiographies and oral histories--may date to many years or even decades later.
In literary studies, works of literature (novels, short stories, plays, poems, and more) are primary sources. Other types of primary sources include artwork and handicrafts, correspondence, diaries, government records, photographs, handbills and broadsides, magazines, newspapers, objects/artifacts, and oral histories--and these can be important to literary studies as well.
Want to know more about primary sources? Check out Yale University's website on primary sources, including what they are, how they relate to other types of sources (such as secondary sources), and how to find them.
You'll typically access primary sources via the following paths:
In archives, special collections, and rare book rooms. Such places typically have areas of focus and strength.
Through published books of government records, correspondence, diaries, and other first-hand accounts.
Examples
Perdita Manuscripts (accessible online through the UNL Libraries)
Nineteenth-century books, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other documents in Western and non-Western languages. Subcollections include Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; British Politics and Society; British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture; Children’s Literature and Childhood; Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest; European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection; Photography: The World through the Lens; Science, Technology, and Medicine: 1780-1925; and Women: Transnational Networks. (Full-Text)
In addition to the online primary resources, the University Libraries also provide many primary resources in the microform collections. Use this link to see the list of microform resources at UNL.
