Collins Memorial Library: Science, Technology, Health, &amp; Society: Primary Sources

STHS is an interdisciplinary program that looks at the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, technology, and health. Courses taught under the STHS umbrella will vary in their disciplinary frameworks, so what constitutes a primary source in one course or context will vary. This page provides examples of primary source materials in a couple of relevant disciplinary frameworks.

If you are unsure about what kind(s) of primary sources to use in your research, please clarify with your professor! Your STHS liaison librarian also can help you identify primary source materials.

Historical Primary Sources

Some examples:

AAS Historical Periodicals
Search the complete collection of American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society, Parts I-VII.
HathiTrust Digital Library
A partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.

To access content, "LOG IN" by choosing the University of Puget Sound as your member library. You'll be prompted to enter your Puget Sound credentials. This opens up access to available content.
New York Times Historical Newspaper This link opens in a new window
Includes full page images of the New York Daily Times (1851-1857) and the New York Times (1857-2017).

Oral Histories at the Niels Bohr Library
The interviews, conducted by the staff of the AIP Center for History of Physics and many other historians, offer unique insights into the lives, works, and personalities of physical scientists.

Sociological Primary Sources

Social Explorer
A research tool designed to provide access to historical census data and demographic information. It creates maps and reports to help users visually analyze and understand demography and social change throughout history.

Social Explorer includes the entire US Census (1790 to 2010) and the American Community Survey (2005 to 2015).

Specialized U.S. data resources include the FBI Uniform Crime Report (2010 to 2015), American election results (1912 to 2016), Religious Congregations and Membership Study (1980 and 2010), Vulcan Project carbon emissions data (2002), US Business Patterns (2014), and County Health Rankings and Roadmaps Program data (2010 to 2016).

International data resources include the United Kingdom Census (2011), Canadian Census (2011), Eurostat (1990, 2000, 2010 to 2013), World Development Indicators (2013), and Irish religion and population data (1911 and 2001).

National Center for Health Statistics (Dept. of Health and Human Services)
The site of the Department of Health and Human Services' major statistical agency has data on infant and child health, diseases and births and deaths.

Collins Memorial Library

Science, Technology, Health, & Society

What's a primary source?

Historical Primary Sources

Sociological Primary Sources