LibGuides: Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American Studies Library Resource Guide: Primary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Primary sources are first-hand or contemporary accounts of an event or topic. They enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during a historical event or time period.

Examples include oral histories, memoirs, letters, diaries, meeting minutes, photographs, artifacts, interviews, and sound or video recordings of an event.
Raw statistical data is also considered a primary source.
If a primary source is digitized and made available online, the online version is still considered a primary source.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources add interpretation, analysis, or commentary to an event or phenomenon covered by primary sources.

Examples include criticisms, histories, and retrospective articles. They can be useful for understanding how a topic or event is or has been regarded by the media and society, if that information is within the scope of your project.

Digital Collections

Japanese American National Museum
The over 150,000 objects that comprise the JANM permanent collection chronicle the Japanese American experience in its entirety from early immigration to the present. Artifacts related to early immigration to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, early life in Japanese American communities, and the World War II incarceration experience and military service are strengths of the collection.
South Asian American Digital Archive
The South Asian American Digital Archive was established in 2008 and is the only digital repository in the United States for materials about South Asian Americans. It contains more than 3,200 items consisting of letters, photographs, newspapers, magazines, videos, websites, oral histories, etc.
Ulukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library
Online library of Hawaiian historical source materials, in their original language. Includes histories, historical documents, genealogies, land redistribution documents, historical dictionaries, 19th- and 20th-century newspapers, historical textbooks on Hawaiian traditional culture, oral histories, photos, and some music. Also features an online dictionary of the Hawaiian language. User interface in English or Hawaiian.
Texas Tech University: The Vietnamese American Heritage Project
Created in 2008, the Vietnamese American Heritage Project (VAHP) supports the Vietnam Archive’s mission to document the war from all perspectives by providing documentation of the post-war social and political history of Vietnamese Americans who immigrated to the United States during and after the Vietnam conflict.
Harvard Library: Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
Documenting voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the start of the Great Depression. Concentrating heavily on the 19th century, the collection includes: Over 400,000 pages from more than 2,200 books, pamphlets, and serials; over 9,600 pages from manuscript and archival collections; and more than 7,800 photographs.

Statistics

Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest)
A comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States, consisting of over 1400 indexed tables, published since 1878. Serves as a statistical reference and guide to additional sources of information.

Pew Research: Key Facts About Asian Americans (2021)
This analysis includes all those who identify their race as Asian alone or as part of a multiracial background, regardless of Hispanic origin. It is accompanied by updated fact sheets that describe key demographic and economic characteristics of each of Asian origin group, as well as by another analysis that details the diversity of origins within the Asian American population.

Government Documents

United States Census Bureau: Asian American Data Links
Includes a population snapshot, detailed demographic profile, survey of business owners, and statistical reports.
United States Census Bureau: Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Data Links
Includes a population snapshot, detailed demographic profile, survey of business owners, and statistical reports.