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Finding Primary Sources
Primary sources are documents and other artifacts related to the topic being studied. They are generally created in or around the time period and reflect the views and experiences of the person who created them. Personal diaries, letters, and photographs are just a few examples of primary sources you might find useful.
There are many published compilations of primary sources in the library collection. The fact that these have been reproduced from their original form and published does not take away from their usefulness as primary sources. You can find these compilations under a variety of subject subheadings:
Remember to add you specific topic to narrow the results more precisely. You might also like to try a combined Primary Sources search to include all of these source types in one list of results.
The UW Archives have a variety of primary source collections that may be of interest to students and researchers in this field.
- W.D. Valgardson FondsFonds reflects Valgardson’s career as a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a teacher of writing, and the records primarily illustrate his process of revising a work for publication and adaptation from one genre to another – from a short story to a radio play, for example.
- Western Canada Pictorial IndexConsists of over 70,000 images related to the history of Western Canada, gathered over three decades. This collection is searchable online, although viewing the images will require you to visit the archives.
Online Collections
- Internet Archive The Internet Archive was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.
- Canadiana Discovery Portal ... provides access to a vast collection of Canadian historical artifacts from institutions across Canada.
- Duke's AdAccess Archive Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955.
Journals and Newspapers
- Winnipeg Free Press [NewspaperARCHIVE] This link opens in a new window The Winnipeg Free Press Archives is available on NewspaperARCHIVE from 1874 onwards.
- Globe and Mail 1844+ [ProQuest] This link opens in a new window The complete contents of the Toronto Globe and Mail from 1844+ (has a rolling wall of 5 years). This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts of the politics, society and events of the time.
