LibGuides: HST 427: Modern France: The 20th Century : Primary Sources

Kewords to find Primary Sources

These are subheadings for primary sources published in book form. Search for these as keywords in Primo, combined with a main topic, such as napoleon* wars maps. You can mix and match, remembering to combine similar concepts together with "OR." Ex. sources OR diaries OR correspondence

If you want to extend your search beyond Primo (the Summit libraries), use the same search terms in WorldCat and order through Interlibrary Loan.

sources
interviews
diaries
autobiograph* (best to use truncation)
correspondence
personal narratives
pamphlets
speeches
documents
archives
maps

For literary works as primary sources, try these search phrases. Square brackets indicate that this is an example that you can modify with a parallel geographic area or adjective. Ex. [Indonesian] replace with kenyan

[Indonesian] [poetry] women authors
short stories [egypt]
fiction
essays
drama
prose literature

Literature as Primary Sources

Staying on Alone by (at Hamersly)
Call Number: PS3537.T323 Z84

Publication Date: 1982-11-17
The Angel of Dien Bien Phu : the Sole French Woman at the Decisive Battle in Vietnam by (from other libraries)
Call Number: Order through Summit

Publication Date: 2010-10-15

Specific Archival Sources

Euro Docs : HISTORY OF FRANCE (Primary Documents)
Provides access to primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated regarding key historical happenings within France and within the broadest sense of political, economic, social and cultural history.
World War I Document Archive
Contains documents, images and other resources related to World War I.
Legifrance
French legal documents translated into English.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War
Includes links to various French World War I digital collections
Fordham University : Western Europe Since 1945
A comprehensive history of the world with links to associated primary documents.
Wilson Center Digital Archive : International History Declassified
Contains once-secret documents from governments across the globe. Themes focus on nuclear proliferation, the Cold War, and Chinese and Korean history. French related topics include the Geneva Convention, French Nuclear History and the Euromissle Crisis.
The Avalon Project : Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Collection from Yale University including a wide variety of primary sources related to law, history, and diplomacy. French-related documents include the Potsdam Conference Proceedings, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Franco-German Armistice and the NATO Treaty

Broad-Scope Archival Searches

Europeana
Europe's digital library, museum and archive, a portal to the online collections of cultural institutions across the continent.
The National Archives (United Kingdom)
The National Archives is one of the largest in the world, containing over 11 million historical government and public records. Because of its close proximity to France, many of the 20th century events taking place "across the channel" are recorded in these collections.
British Pathe
Previews from the entire 3500 hour British Pathe Film Archive which covers news, sport, social history and entertainment from 1896 to 1970. 90,000 clips.
European Navigator
The European Navigator is a multilingual, multisource and multimedia digital library that contains more than 16,000 documents on the historical and institutional development of a united Europe from 1945 to the present day.
HathiTrust Digital Library
A shared, growing digital repository of millions of books and periodical volumes scanned from major research libraries, including those digitized by institutional effort and by both Google and the Internet Archive. Offers full PDF downloading of works in the public domain.

Internet Archive
Seeks to provide permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages.
World Digital Library
The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary sources and materials from countries and cultures around the world.
Films On Demand
A web-based service for streaming educational videos distributed by Films Media Group. This vast archive currently includes more than 6,100 complete titles and 63,000 individual segments which may be viewed legally by current WOU students, faculty and staff anytime, anywhere. Videos are organized into comprehensive curriculum-based collections.
ArchiveGrid
3 million records describing archival materials.
To search for digital resources, add "webcontent:1" to your keyword search. Some of these digital resources will be online finding aids to the physical-only collection; other records will include a link to digital objects or a collection. The Summary View of results provides ways to narrow by Places, Topic, etc.

Advanced Google Search Add "digital collection" to your keyword search. Also limit to domains .edu or .org or for your country of interest.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Besides the obvious emphasis on New York City and the state, NYPL also has strong collections for national and international history.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
An electronic collection of historic and current maps of all types--political, thematic, physical, topographic, etc.--as well as links off to other map sites.