Finding published primary sources and compilations of source documents in the library's catalog, 1Search, is easy! Try your keyword and add one or more of these terms:

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The Special Collections and Archives Research Center, located on the 5th floor of The Valley Library, is home to the university’s unique collections of manuscripts, archives, photographs, and books.

We collect in six main areas: the History of OSU, the History of Science, Natural Resources, Multiculturalism in Oregon, Hops and Brewing History and Rare Books. We also administer the university's Records Management Program and are home to a robust Oral History Program.

For more on what we do, please see our Mission Statement and for help getting started with your research, please see our Reference page.

American State Papers, 1789-1838 

American State Papers, 1789-1838 enables students and scholars to easily search and browse legislative and executive documents of the first fourteen U.S. Congresses and more. This seminal set of U.S. government publications a rich source of primary material on wide-ranging aspects of early American history. Beyond, American State Papers is cross-searchable with the digital U.S. Congressional Serial Set and all other Readex Archive of Americana collections.

Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 
1600-1960

Full-text access to historical materials documenting the Hispanic culture of the United States in its written form. Includes approximately 60,000 historical articles and texts of over 1,100 historical books on Hispanic literature and culture. Content is 80% Spanish and 20% English but searchable in both languages. Colonial times until 1960.

Crime and Punishment: Social Issues Primary Sources Collection 

Explores the development, diversity, and duality of attitudes and arguments related to crime and punishment.

Digital Public Library of America

DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format. The cultural institutions participating in DPLA represent the richness and diversity of America itself, from the smallest local history museum to our nation’s largest cultural institutions. Our core work includes bringing new collections and partners into DPLA, building our technology, and managing projects that further our mission through curation, education, and community building.

Early English Books Online (EEBO)

Thanks to the generosity of OSU Libraries’ donors, we have been able to acquire the online version of Early English Books Online (EEBO). From the first book published in English in 1473 through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, EEBO contains the full text and images from more than 125,000 titles. This resource is useful for researchers in English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science. It includes the works of Shakespeare, Bacon, Newton, and many other authors, both famous and obscure. The materials include prayer books, calendars, royal statutes, musical exercises, broadsides, and pamphlets. Users can search by author (e.g., Chaucer), keyword (e.g., herbal), subject (e.g., Brain—Anatomy—Early works), material type (e.g., Maps), and language (e.g., Algonquin).

Europeana

Europeana is a portal for 15 million digitized items including: books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records from throughout Europe. Funded by the European Commission, materials come from both cultural and scientific institutions.

Gender Issues and Sexuality: Social Issues Primary Sources Collection

Provides insight into the personal, social, and political issues of gender and sexuality--issues that range from intimate matters of personal belief to matters that profoundly shape modern society

Government, Politics, and Protest:Social Issues Primary Sources Collection 

Explores the causes and nature of protest as well as the historical tension between protest and government, including underlying causes.

HathiTrust Digital Library

Full-text : all works out of copyright (approx. 1500-1923)
Citation: all works in copyright (approx. 1924-present)
HathiTrust is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future. There are more than fifty partners in HathiTrust, and membership is open to institutions worldwide. The HathiTrust Digital Library brings together the immense collections of partner institutions in digital form, preserving them securely to be accessed and used today, and in future generations.

Human Rights Studies Online

A research and learning database providing comparative documentation, analysis, and interpretation of major human rights violations and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010. The collection includes primary and secondary materials across multiple media formats and content types for each selected event, including Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and more.

Immigration and Multiculturalism: Social Issues Primary Sources Collection

Offers insight into two centuries of global changes in populations and cultures.

NCSE: Nineteenth Century Serials Edition 

Facsimiles and searchable transcripts of six 19th century periodicals: Monthly Repository, Northern Star, Leader, English Woman’s Journal, Tomahawk, and Publishers’ Circular.

Oregon Digital 

The collections of Oregon Digital are primarily created to support the teaching and research missions of the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The collections are comprised of unique digitized and born-digital materials including photographs, articles, sheet music, manuscripts, ephemera, and more. Oregon Digital is collaboratively managed by the Digital Scholarship Center of the University of Oregon Libraries and the Center for Digital Scholarship and Services of Oregon State University Libraries.

Terrorism: Social Issues Primary Sources Collection 

Provides insight into the scale and complexities of terrorism across a sweeping landscape of time, geography, act, and motive.

Transatlantic Slave Trade Database

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database comprises nearly 35,000 individual slaving expeditions between 1514 and 1866. Records of the voyages have been found in archives and libraries throughout the Atlantic world. They provide information about vessels, enslaved peoples, slave traders and owners, and trading routes. A variable (Source) cites the records for each voyage in the database. Other variables enable users to search for information about a particular voyage or group of voyages. The website provides full interactive capability to analyze the data and report results in the form of statistical tables, graphs, maps, or on a timeline.

U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980

The single most important series of American government publications, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set is an incomparably rich, largely untapped collection of primary source material on the people, issues and events of American history and politics. Readex's digital edition of this national treasure—the Reports, Documents and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives—is the most accurate and complete replica available.

U.S. History In Context 

U.S. History in Context is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History. The new solution merges Gale's authoritative reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.

Women and Social Movements Scholar's Edition

Women and Social Movements in the United States (Scholar’s Edition) brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies documenting the multiplicity of women's activism in American public life. Thousands of pages of materials provide in-depth access to the published histories and records of women's organizations throughout the United States. Also included are documented projects on a broad range of topics, with footnotes to introductory material, annotations of primary documents, a bibliography, and a list of related Web links.The Scholar’s Edition includes Notable American Women and a 90,000 page archive from the Commissions on the Status of Women.

Women Writers Online 

The Brown University Women Writers Project offers texts by pre-Victorian women writers.
1400-1850.

ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid includes over four million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.

Archives West
Archives West provides access to descriptions of primary sources in the Northwestern United States, including correspondence, diaries, or photographs. Digital reproductions of primary sources are available in some cases.

Online Archive of California
The OAC provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 contributing institutions including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California and collections. Maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.