Spanish Studies Capstone 2022
Finding Original Sources
Original sources -- also known as Primary Sources -- ideally provide unmediated, first-hand accounts about your topic. They can include many types of sources that we would never consider to be "scholarly," and many are downright heavily biased! For example: Original diaries, letters, and other unpublished documents; Newspapers; Oral Histories; or Government Documents. Use these sources to answer questions like:
- What did people who were present at the time of the event say happened? (And how did their political or social contexts color what they said?)
- What evidence is there of counter-explanations or deeper insights into what happened?
- How did the media portray events, and how did that effect politics, social movements, or other events?
These sources are the raw material for many papers, particular in the humanities (like literature, film studies, etc.) and the softer side of the social sciences (like history, political science, etc.). Almost anything could conceivably be treated as a primary source: like a blog post, something your grandmother told you, or a video posted on YouTube. The links below should help you go beyond Googling though, to get into sources that seasoned researchers use.
Top Bets for Primary Sources related to Spanish Studies
- US National Archives (NARA)This is THE repository of the U.S. federal government: It is where federal agencies including the State Department, the Department of the Interior, the Army, the Navy (etc., etc.) deposit their records. The U.S. National Archives is by far the largest archival repository in the country, and possibly in the world. Use the NARA Catalog to search basic records of their holdings, but be warned: because of the enormous quantity of records they hold, the descriptions of the archives' contents are often extremely brief. Also note, this generally only includes records generated by federal government bodies; state/local government archives will NOT be in here.
- Calisphere (California Digital Collections)For topics relating to the history of Latinx communities in California, this database has thousands of relevant items.
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanA collaborative site hosting about 340,000 digitized original sources relating to Caribbean countries.
- Guide to Cuban SourcesThis is a link to another library's excellent guide to primary documents relating to Cuba.
- Latin American Newspapers (Links)A very large list with links out to current newspapers being published in Latin America, organized by country.
- Latino Newspapers (Historical) in Chronicling AmericaA selection of digitized historical newspapers in Spanish published from the 1870s-present.
- National Security ArchiveA database of declassified documents! This is one place to look if you want to know about what the CIA has been doing in Latin America for the last fifty years. "The National Security Archive’s holdings total 8-10 million pages of declassified documents. A growing number of these materials are published or posted online every year."
More Primary Sources
To really delve into the world of original documents, videos, images and sound, see our separate guide on Primary Sources. Sub-sections include:
- Digitized Archives GuideIn the world of primary source research, "Archives" are usually unpublished or rare materials on historical topics. Hundreds of millions of pages of original documents, images, etc. have been scanned over the last 20 years, but most are invisible to Google Searches. This page provides links into top archival databases for researchers. This is where you can find original diaries, letters, and other unpublished documents!
- Government Documents GuideGovernment Documents, or "Gov Docs," are publications issued by federal, state and local government bodies. They include a vast quantity of publications: everything from court decisions to legislative and committee reports to informational handbooks and brochures. These materials are often NOT in typical library catalogs, or have very poor representation there.
- Historical Newspapers & Magazines GuideEvery year, students write capstone projects based around analysis of historic newspaper coverage of past events. This page provides links into some of the top historical newspaper databases (unfortunately, mostly in English).
- Historical Census & Genealogical Data GuideGenealogical records are one of the most powerful tools historians have for research. They are especially useful for American history topics between the 1800s-1940s. You can use them to research genealogical details of specific people; learn about who was living in a particular community, what property they owned and how they made a living; or you can use aggregated census data to find demographical statistics. For RECENT census data, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/2020-census-main.html
- Oral Histories GuideOral histories are spoken accounts of historical events, often (but not always) reflecting the speaker's personal experiences. When used as a primary source for historical research, oral history interviews are usually recorded in audio or video formats, and/or transcribed into text.