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Library of Congress Primary Source Collections

American Memory is an online gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. This site from the Library of Congress (LOC) offers more than 12 million digital items from more than 130 historical collections. In the coming years, the National Digital Library Program plans to digitize more of the Library's unique American history collections. Access collection info.

Primary Sources

Simply put, primary sources are original items or records that have survived from the past. We use the following definition to describe a primary source: A primary source is an item created during a particular time period that personally or officially records and/or reflects an individual's or united group's observation, experience, or perspective of persons, places, events, issues, or technologies of that same time period. The online American Memory collections are comprised mainly of primary sources. For the purpose of contrast, it is important to note that secondary sources are created by documenting or analyzing someone else's experience to provide a perspective or framework of past persons, places, events, issues, or technologies.

Type of Source
Primary Source: obtained by, coming from, or based on direct observation or experience

art
artifacts
autobiographies
diaries
interviews
journals
letters

music (written & audio)
news footage
newspapers
photographs
poetry
printed ephemera
speeches

Secondary Source: created using information provided by personal recollections or official records

textbooks
encyclopedias
biographies
monographs
documentaries

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Exploring American Memory

You can locate items in the American Memory collections by using the Search or Browse functions.
Browse Function
You can browse collections by topic, time period, source type, or place. To get a glimpse of the variety of information included in American Memory, click the List all collections link, then the Show collection description link.
Search Function
You can search all collections, across selected collections, or in individual collections.

Tips for Searching the Collections

Searches in American Memory automatically look for all the keywords you enter; search symbols are NOT valid.
When searching all collections or across selected collections, you are ONLY searching text in the bibliographic record.
To search across selected collections, you must first browse a set of collections, then select the group of collections you wish to search.
To search the full text of items in certain collections, you will need to repeat your search in an individual collection.
Search by entering one or more keywords, but try to limit yourself to a maximum of 3-5 keywords.
Remember to use search terms that are appropriate for the time period.
If you can't find what you are looking for, try alternate keywords.
If you still can't find what you are looking for, you might also try your search from another section of the LOC website, accessible from the LOC homepage.

Reviewing Your Search Results

Once your information is retrieved, you can choose from two views to preview the details.

List View provides titles of the primary source documents found and the collections within which items are contained. Note: the current display view appears in gray, the alternative display view is displayed with an underlined link.

Gallery View provides thumbnail images or icons to help you quickly recognize the actual sources or source types. Note: DON'T use this view if you are using a dialup Internet connection.

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Finding Permanent URLs

When you click an item found through a search of American Memory, the URL, or web address, you see in the address bar of your Internet browser is only a temporary link. You will not be able to return to the item using that URL. So, how do you get a "real" address for an item that you have found? Some items in the American Memory list the permanent URL at the bottom of the bibliographic record. If there is no link there, however, you will need to follow a few steps to locate the permanent link.

When clicking the photograph, PC users will right click and Mac users will hold down the Command/Apple key and click.
Internet Explorer® Click View from the browser menu or the arrow next to the Page drop-down menu (IE 7), then click Source.
Netscape Navigator® Click View from the browser menu, then click Page Source.
Safari® Click View from the browser menu, then click View Source.
Firefox® Click View from the browser menu, then click Page Source.

Selecting the source means that you want to see the source code for the web page. A new window that has a bunch of computer code in it will pop up (this is HTML language). Don't panic! All you need to do is scroll to the very bottom of that window and look for a URL, possibly with text that reads similar to what is listed below.

!- - The following URL will result in display of this document - -!
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/alad:@field(DOCID+@lit(h46672))

In the example above, you can see there is a web address that we have bolded and highlighted, which is the permanent link to the item. This link will NOT be bolded in the text file window, however, it is always located at the bottom of the page. To save the link, you can either write the address down, copy and paste it into a plain-text document, or bookmark the address. Directions for copying and pasting and bookmarking web addresses are listed below.

Copying and Pasting a Web Address into a Text Document

To highlight the link, click just to the left of the "h" at the beginning of the link and drag your mouse to the right until the entire link has been highlighted. Make sure to begin with "http" and include all parentheses "))".

To copy the link, click (PC users right click, Mac users hold down Command/Apple or Ctrl key) the highlighted text and click Copy. Be sure your cursor is pointing somewhere on the highlighted text when trying to copy the link. If the cursor is not pointing on the highlighted text, you may not be presented with the Copy option.

Internet Explorer (PC or Mac): Now go to the top of this same plain-text document-a Notepad® or TextEdit® window-and click File from the menu, then click New.
Other browsers (PC): Locate the Notepad program-try looking in Start > All Programs > Accessories. Then click Notepad to open a new file window.
Other browsers (Mac): Locate the TextEdit or Notepad program-OSX users try double clicking your Mac HD/My Computer OR Finder icon from the desktop, then double clicking the Applications folder, and then double clicking TextEdit; earlier Mac OS users try clicking the apple at the top left corner of your screen, then clicking Notepad.

Return to your Notepad or TextEdit window and paste the title on the line below the URL.

Now return to the bibliographic record of the primary source item and locate the title of the item (found near the top of the record, usually below and, sometimes, above thumbnail images of the items).

Use your mouse or touchpad to highlight the title, then copy it. by pressing Ctrl + c, or selecting Copy from the Edit menu, right clicking the highlighted text and selecting Copy (PC users), or holding down the Command/Apple or Ctrl key, clicking the highlighted text, and clicking Copy.

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Bookmarking a Permanent URL

Before you bookmark a URL, make sure you are bookmarking the permanent address of a collection item (see instructions above). Additionally, please remember that the default name for a web page is the web page title located in the upper left corner of your browser window. Because the web page titles of American Memory collection items usually consist of a series of letters and numbers, always consider renaming the address before bookmarking it.

Once you have copied the permanent web address from the source file window into the address bar of your Internet browser (see instructions above), follow the typical browser process for bookmarking a page.

Internet Explorer Click Favorites from the browser menu or the plus/star icon to the left of the tabs (IE 7), then click Add to Favorites. Select a convenient folder and rename the file with an easily identifiable name, then click the OK button.
Netscape Navigator Click the icon to the left of the URL in the address bar. Select a convenient folder and rename the file with an easily identifiable name, then click the OK button.
Safari Click the Plus button to the left of the URL in the address bar. Select a convenient folder and rename the file with an easily identifiable name, then click the OK button.
Firefox Click Bookmarks from the browser menu, then click Bookmark this page. Select a convenient folder and rename the file with an easily identifiable name, then click the OK button.

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