Skip to Main Content

notice Some items are only available on campus or will require authentication via EUID and Password at the point of use.

North Texas NOW! @ UNT at Frisco

This guide is designed to highlight library resources for students in the North Texas NOW! dual credit program at Frisco

Primary Sources

In addition to newspapers, UNT Library has government documents, a digital archive of Texas history, and special collections that can be used for primary research. Information about each collection is listed below.  

Government Documents Collections

The Government Documents Department is responsible for the following collections, which are located at the Sycamore Library. 

  • U.S. Federal Documents
  • Texas State Government Documents
  • Maps and Posters
  • Legal Materials
  • Business Reference Collection
  • Tax Library

We also maintain several online Digital Collections.

If you need assistance finding materials in the Government Documents collections, you can review the Government Information Online or contact the Sycamore Library Reference Desk. 

The Portal to Texas History

About the Portal: https://texashistory.unt.edu/about/portal/

Constantly growing, the Portal to Texas History, created by Digital Projects, contains more than 2.8 million digital files and receives some 290,000 uses per month. It features digital reproductions of photographs, maps, letters, documents, newspapers, books, artifacts, and more.

To learn more about the Portal's contents, please click on explore by collections.

UNT Special Collections

UNT Special Collections provides access to rare and unique materials including rare books, oral histories, university archives, historical manuscripts, maps, microfilm, photographs, art and artifacts to UNT students, faculty, staff, and the general public. 

Archival materials can be used by request in the reading room on the 4th floor of Willis Library, or researchers can access items from the digital archive online.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. A few examples of primary sources are:

  • Texts of laws and other original documents
  • Newspaper reports
  • Diaries, speeches, and letters
  • Datasets 
  • Photographs, videos, or audio

Secondary Sources are one step removed from primary sources, though they often quote or otherwise use primary sources. They can cover the same topic, but add a layer of interpretation and analysis. They may provide critical or historical perspectives. A few examples of a secondary source are:

  • Books about the event/topic
  • Scholarly or other articles about the event/topic
  • Documentaries 
  • Analysis or interpretation of a data set

When is a Primary Source a Secondary Source? 

Whether something is a primary or secondary source often depends upon the topic and its use.

A biology textbook would be considered a secondary source if in the field of biology, since it describes and interprets the science but makes no original contribution to it.

On the other hand, if the topic is science education and the history of textbooks, textbooks could be used a primary sources to look at how they have changed over time.

Information source - Primary Sources: A Research Guide