Getting Started:
Read a short biography of your person first. Wikipedia or the library's CREDO Reference database are good places to find these. While Wikipedia is not a suitable source to cite in college work, it IS an excellent place to get a quick overview about a subject and possibly find primary sources in the References list.
Primary sources
Sources created by people who were there: first-hand accounts, autobiographies, diaries, newspaper articles written at the time of the event. Other examples include speeches, photographs, paintings or sculptures, or maps.
Places to search for primary sources:
MIT Classics Archive: for primary source texts written by ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese, or Persians.
ARTstor (now part of JSTOR): a library database of artwork. Good for finding portraits, sculptures, or other works depicting famous people. Use the date filter to find works created during your subject's lifetime.
Library Main Search: Try combining your subject's name with keywords like writings or works or diary or autobiography
Secondary sources
Writings about the topic by people who were not present: history books, biographies, magazine articles, and television documentaries.
Need more information? See our how-to guide: Find Primary and Secondary Sources
