Research Guides: Canadian Studies: Primary Sources

What are Primary and Secondary Sources?

Primary Sources

The library has access to many repositories that focus on primary source materials from Canada dating back to the country's early history and running up until the present. On this page you will find a list of some of our recommended resources as well as a helpful video describing what primary sources can include. Depending on your research topic Special Collections and Archives here at Brock might be a great resource to explore as well.

Niagara Collection This link opens in a new window
- The collection covers all aspects of life on the Niagara Peninsula from the earliest geological formations to the present.
- Major themes within the collection include: individuals, major events, local history, industrialization, and tourism.
- Some digitized content available in Brock’s digital repository. Contact Archives & Special Collections to learn more or to arrange a visit.

Primary Sources & Early Printed Works

Canadiana Online This link opens in a new window
- Full text of Canadian historical documents.
- Includes three major collections: Early Canadian Monographs, Government Publications, and Serials.
- An excellent resource for Ontario and Niagara historical documents, including primary sources.
- Terms of Use from Publisher Site
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
- This digital collection of primary source documents helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920
- Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas.
- Permitted Uses
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
- Primary materials including letters, diaries and oral histories of immigrants to America and Canada
- Coverage: 1800-1950.
- Permitted Uses
Oral History Online This link opens in a new window
- Find English-language, mainly North American transcribed oral history primary resources such as audio and video files from the 18th Century to the present.
- Limit to Canada by using the "Place Discussed" browsing feature
- Permitted Uses

Archives & Archival Material

List of Canadian Archives
This list is not exhaustive, but is a great place to find potential sources of information on your topic. Archives and archival collections can range from National institutions to individual organisations which collect and preserve documents from the past.
Library and Archives Canada
National archives collect and preserve materials that help document and interpret the country’s history.
These records might represent private or public citizens; private, public, and volunteer organizations; or government departments, committees, and commissions.
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They include different types of records such as:
letters
diaries
government and business documents
photographs
audio recordings
maps
artwork
Canadian Pamphlets and Broadsides
Pre-1930 Canadian pamphlet and broadsides - includes page images in full colour, and full searchability of the contents of each item. The collection includes items printed in Canada, by Canadian authors, or about Canadian subjects, mainly of a non-literary nature.