1. Find a  library guide related to your topic. Academic Librarians across the world create research guides on all sorts of topics including locating primary sources related to specific research topics.

2. Visit Government Agency websites like the Census Bureau and National Archives.

3. Look for city and county offices as well as data-portals for large cities and counties like San Diego and Los Angeles; both have online data portals.

4. Identify and contact local archives, museums, and libraries (SD History Center). 

5. Limit search results in Copley databases to document types such as speeches, interviews or newspaper etc…

6. Look for databases that contain primary sources: Such as African American Experience. 

7. Search newspaper databases such as U.S. Major Dailies or NYT Archive. Copley's Newspaper Guide offers links to all the newspapers we provide access to.

8. Look at the primary sources being used by relevant secondary sources. Where do they come from? Can you get access to any collections they may have had access too for their research.

9. Consider search terms in library catalogs. Terms such as “Sources”, “Statistics”, as well as subjects such as “Demographics”, can yield results for primary sources.

10. Ask a Librarian for assistance. You may want to ask if your library has any specific tools or memberships that provide access to primary sources. For example, Copley is a member of the Center for Research Libraries, a consortium that supports research by making rare primary sources accessible. Likewise, we are a member of Hathi Trust and offer access to their digital library. 

ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.