Using Primary Sources

We are a special part of the UNLV University Libraries that contains unique, specialized, and often one-of-a kind materials, including archives, rare books, photographs, maps, and architectural drawings.

Many university libraries have a special collections department, but each one focuses on different subject areas or topics. UNLV Special Collections and Archives focuses on the history and culture of Las Vegas, Southern Nevada, the gaming industry, and on UNLV itself.

Many of our materials are primary sources—documents, images, or artifacts that provide firsthand evidence of a historical topic. Primary sources typically have the following characteristics:

  • They usually were created at the time an event occurred or very soon afterward.
  • Some are unique and only exist in one copy, such as in a letter or diary.
  • Other primary sources can also exist in many copies, if they were popular and widely available at the time they were created, such as a newspaper or map.

Examples of primary sources

Newspapers
Newspapers | A  newspaper issue such as this one of the Las Vegas Age from 1909 is an example of a primary source that exists in many copies.
Letters
Letters | This letter was written in 1906 and sent from Goldfield in central Nevada to the recipient in Muncie, Indiana. It is a typescript letter, created by a typewriter
handwritten letter
Here is a handwritten (sometimes called holograph) letter from the same person, also from 1906. Both of the letters serve as primary sources because they provide first-person accounts of life in Goldfield at this time.
Memos 
Memos | Here is a company memo from the publicity director of the Sands Hotel in 1954 that discusses a publicity event associated with the hotel and featuring Frank Sinatra
Diaries
Diaries | Here is a diary from 1909 that chronicles an expedition made by Las Vegas resident Leon Rockwell up the Colorado River
Old brochures
Old brochures | Here is a brochure advertising the Riviera Hotel in the 1960
Periodicals
Periodicals | Here is a Las Vegas entertainment magazine from 1955 which serves as a primary source because it  provides original reviews of Las Vegas shows, gossip columns and advertisements from that time period.
Menus
Menus | Here is a menu from the El Rancho Vegas, the first hotel on the Strip, dated 1943
Maps
Maps | A tourist map of Las Vegas serves a primary source showing the extent of development in Las Vegas both in the city and the unincorporated areas in 1957

Other examples

Note that primary source materials—letters, memos, diaries, brochures—are not generally found as single items in Special Collections and Archives.

  • They typically form part of what we call a manuscript or archival collection.
  • If they are the personal papers of a notable person, they are considered a manuscript collection.
  • If they are the non-current records of a business or organization they are generally considered an archival collection; however, many people use these words interchangeably.
  • These collections may be composed of one box or several. They can range from 10 boxes to 100 to even in the 1000s.

Books

Although most books are secondary sources, some books can be used as primary sources if you are using them as representative of the time in which they are created.

Some primary sources (such as letters and diaries) have been compiled and published in a book format. In that case, they are still considered a primary source despite the fact that they exist as a book.

Oral histories

An oral history is an interview with an individual that focuses on their life broadly or on specific events in their life that were of importance. They provide first-person accounts of particular events, but it is important to remember that often they are recollections from many years after the event and can be faulty. Generally you would use a transcript of the interview in your research as opposed to listening to the audio cassette or CD.

Digitized primary sources

Would you like to use primary sources, but can’t make it into Special Collections and Archives? Well, in many cases, we have digitized materials (including photographs, letters, reports, maps and menus) and made them available in online digital collections. 

Many other libraries, archives, and special collections have also digitized and made their materials available online. Other collections of primary sources have been made available in microfilm.

Please note that these are still primary sources even if they are in digital format. We have altered their physical form, but we have not changed the content of the original materials.

What is a secondary source?

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources or other types of data. They typically include scholarly books and articles.

Second-hand, published accounts are called secondary sources. They are called secondary sources because they are created after primary sources and they often use or refer to primary sources.

Other online resources on primary sources

The Green Felt Jungle
The Green Felt Jungle is a primary source when used as representative of how Las Vegas was perceived by journalists and presented to the American public in the early 1960s.
Moehring and Green's Las Vegas: A Centennial History
Moehring and Green's Las Vegas: A Centennial History is an example of a secondary source on Las Vegas

Many other institutions offer useful information and instruction in the use of primary sources, collections of digitized primary sources, or links to other archive and special collection repositories where you may find items of interest for your research.