Polynesia & Hawai'ian Islands Research Guide: Primary Sources

Primary Sources are materials documents, artifacts, or other information sources that were created at the time of being studied, or by some directly involved in an event. Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic from people who had direct connections with it. Primary Sources can include:

• Texts of laws and other original documents
• Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed and event or who quote people who did
• Speeches, diaries, letters, and interviews— what the people involved said or wrote
• Original research
• Datasets, survey data, such as census records or economic statistics
• Photographs, video, or audio that capture an event

Other tabs of this guide feature finding and researching specific primary sources such as audiovisual materials, and data and statistics. Below are some open access collections examples: