Primary sources are those created contemporaneously to whatever period a researcher is studying. In contrast to secondary sources, they don't provide any analysis on a given topic after the fact; instead, they reflect on information or events as they unfolded (for example, a newspaper article, from the time of a particular historical event, discussing the historical event as it happened). Primary sources are especially useful for researchers because they reveal how certain topics and ideas were understood during a specific time and place. The particular primary sources you might use in your research, as well as how you find them, can vary a lot based on your field of study.
The term “primary source" is often used to describe both the originals in the archives and the published reproductions. An archive may, for example, hold a handwritten memoir, but the library will hold the published book, a [print format or electronic format] version of the rare materials held in an archive.
Catalogs for finding primary sources:
Duke Catalog (Advanced Search)
KIT Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog (KVK)
Keywords that indicate types of Archival Materials (AM):
