Schauffler Library: Economics: Primary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources

The definition of a primary source depends upon the discipline and on how one is using the source.

Usually, a primary source is a direct, first-hand account of an event. Some examples within the discipline of economics include:

A Political, Social, or Economic Theory
Treaties, Laws, Government policies, or Court Rulings
Datasets
The results of an original experiment or study.
Articles describing original ethnographies, interviews, or surveys.
Annual reports or financial statements.

A secondary source would be something that interprets, analyzes, or remarks upon a primary source. Examples include:

Scholarly journal articles summarizing research
Newspaper and magazine articles
Essays
Theses and dissertations
Stories or films produced about an historical event

A tertiary source is further removed from a primary source. It leads the researcher to a secondary source, rather than to the primary source.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Textbooks
Biographies

Tip!

To find primary source material for your topic, try adding one of the keywords below:

charters
correspondence
diaries
documents
interviews
letters
manuscripts

oratory
pamphlets
personal narratives
sources
speeches

Recommended Primary Source Databases

While primary sources can be found throughout this libguide in places like books, newspaper articles, images and streaming video, and recommended websites, just to name a few, the following databases may be useful to you in identifying primary sources for your assignments:

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Published annually by the federal government since 1878, The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the best known statistical reference publication in the country, and perhaps the world.

To cite in NoodleTools: +Create New Source | Where is it? Website | What is it? Chart, Table, Infographic (Born Digital) | URL in citation is stable
ProQuest Databases
A single searchable source for scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines, reports, working papers, and datasets along with millions of pages of digitized historical primary sources.

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | URL in citation is stable
CQ Researcher
Covers important contemporary issues. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research.

This resource is now available through Boston Public Library's eCard Online Resources. For more information, visit https://libguides.nmhschool.org/bplecard

To cite in NoodleTools: +Create New Source | Where is it? Database | What is it? Reference Source | URL is stable
America's Historical Newspapers: 1690-2000
Searchable full-text and images of newspapers from across the country including early newspapers (1690-1922), African American Newspapers (1827-1998); Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection (1799-1971), and Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980).

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | Add the article title to the citation if it is missing | URL in citation is stable
ProQuest International Newsstream
Provides the most recent news content outside of the US and Canada, with archives which stretch back decades featuring newspapers, newswires, and news sites in active full-text format.

To cite in NoodleTools: Choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | URL in citation is stable
Salem History
This Database has a great selection of primary sources. The Decades series, Great Events from History, Milestone Documents, and Weapons and Warfare, which are also available as print resources in our Reference Collection, are included.

To cite in NoodleTools: +Create New Source | Where is it? Database | What is it? Reference Source | URL is unstable, use database name
iPOLL
iPOLL, from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, includes searchable public opinion poll data on thousands of topics ranging from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. Its collection now includes over 22,000 datasets and adds hundreds more each year. In total, the archive contains responses from millions of individuals on a vast range of topics.

To cite in NoodleTools: +Create New Source | Where is it? Database | What is it? Unpublished Paper or Data | URL is stable
JSTOR
JSTOR provides access to the highest-quality academic scholarly journals, books, images, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | URL in citation is stable

Recommended Websites

U.S. Department of the Treasury
Find financial data, policy memos, and more directly from the US Department of the Treasury.
Data.gov
A catch-all clearinghouse of US government produced data.
World Bank Data Catalog
The Data Catalog is designed to make World Bank's development data easy to find, download, use, and share. It includes data from the World Bank's microdata, finances and energy data platforms, as well as datasets from the open data catalog.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal fact-finding agency in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. BLS collects, calculates, analyzes, and publishes data essential to the public, employers, researchers, and government organizations.
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of last resort to national governments. Here, you will find economic and financial datasets produced by the IMF.
Digital Public Library of America
An all-digital library that aggregates metadata — or information describing an item — and thumbnails for millions of photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States.