Research Guide for

HIST 1133 Minnesota History (Bissonett)

Main

Primary Sources for Minnesota History

Minnesota Historical Society: Collections Online
A searchable database of photographs, art and posters covering Minnesota history.

Minnesota History Center LibGuides
These guides will help you find sources (primary and secondary) for a variety of topics related to Minnesota history. 

Digital Public Library of America - Primary Source Sets
Selected primary source materials organized by topic. From notable archives, museums, and libraries across the country.

HathiTrust Digital Library
Digital collections of the libraries of major research universities.

Archives Unbound - FBI Files (Gale Primary Sources)
Archives Unbound
Three collections of previously classified FBI files on groups within social movements in the 1960s and 1970s:
* "We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death": Freedom Riders in the South, 1961
* The Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle
* The American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism


Minnesota Digital Library – formerly Minnesota Reflections
Images, maps, documents, and other primary sources from Minnesota history.

Historical Newspapers
Minnesota Historical Newspapers Hub
Full-text issues of Minnesota Newspapers dated back to 1849 and up to 1925

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersImages of selected historical newspaper pages from 1777-1963. Use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find out which newspapers existed in a specific place and time (1690-present).
 

Articles for Historical Context (Mostly Secondary Sources)

JSTOR
Scholarly articles, ebooks, and primary sources in the social sciences, humanities, earth and biological sciences, and more. Includes images from libraries, museums, and archives.


American History (Infobase)
American political, military, social, and cultural history including daily life in America. Includes topic overviews, timelines, charts and maps, and some primary sources.  

African American History
500 years of African-American history.

American Indian History (Infobase)
American Indian history and cultures from first contact with colonizers to the present. Includes topic overviews, timelines, charts and maps, some primary sources, and a tribe index.
 
Minnesota History Magazine Index

Scholarly magazine on Minnesota history. Browse this A-Z topic index to find links to articles that mention topics, people, or places of interest. Index covers articles published from 1915-2017. For more recent articles, browse each issue online at the Minnesota History archive by date.



Online Archive & Index  

Minnesota History: The Quarterly of the Minnesota Historical Society (print)
Minnesota History: The Quarterly of the Minnesota Historical Society is a peer-reviewed magazine. Normandale Library owns print issues from 1925-present. The most recent issue can be found in the Magazine Collection. For older issues, as at the Circulation Desk.

Refine Your Topic

Choosing a research topic can take a bit of trial and error. After choosing a topic, you may need to refine it as you start your research. Watch the video below from North Carolina State University Library to understand the research cycle.

Refining Your Topic
Use this guide from Golden Gate University for addtional tips and information for refining your topic. 

Picking Your Topic IS Research (North Carolina State University Library)

Developing Keywords for Your Research (Monroe CC Libraries)

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources: Provide direct or firsthand evidence
Can be Qualitative or Quantitative Data
Examples: Diaries, speeches, photographs, census data, and other government documents, newspaper articles

Secondary Sources: Produced after the event and analyze or interpret in some way. 
Examples: biographies, scholarly Articles, encyclopedias, newspapers

Understanding Primary and Secondary Sources (Imagine Easy Solutions)

Ask a Librarian

Call, e-mail, or chat with a librarian for more research assistance. We're happy to help!

  (952) 358-8290

 Email

photo of DavidDavid Vrieze Daniels
Reference and Instruction Librarian
david.vriezedaniels@normandale.edu
 

Note: Your chat question may be directed to a librarian from another college when Normandale librarians are unavailable.

Access Our Databases from Anywhere

Online Library Access Info
To access databases and other Library resources, login with your StarID and password when prompted.  Access is only available to current Normandale students and employees.

 

Keyword Worksheet

Evaluate Source Credibility

Evaluate each source you use with CAPPS!
Consider the source's –
C = Currency
A = Author
P = Publication
P = Point of View
S = Sources

 
More info about CAPPS pdf
 

Cite your Sources (MLA)

MLA Quick Guide (PDF)
See MLA citation examples for the most common types of sources (9th edition).

MLA Formatting and Style Guide (OWL at Purdue)
This website offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, and the Works Cited page. Uses MLA 9th edition.
 

Cite your Sources (Chicago)

Chicago Quick Guide
Official guides to the two formats of Chicago Style. Use ONE of the following formats:
Chicago Manual of Style Guide (OWL Purdue)
A guide to the Chicago citation style, based on the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).