CSUSM Library Guides: AMD 412: Advanced Digital Photography Fieldwork: Local history research (primary sources)

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Primary sources/Digital collections

In-depth, place-based historical research often involves working with primary sources located in special collections, archives, and museums. Some local/California history collections are available online for researchers who wish to access collections remotely. (Thanks to Communities & Cultures Archivist Jenn Ho for her help constructing this list.)

San Diego History Center
Learn at home guides to San Diego history.
Calisphere Exhibitions
Curated exhibitions of primary source artifacts digitized from the collections of libraries, archives, and museums throughout California.
The California collection at UC Irvine
"The collection houses significant primary resources dating from the mid-18th century to the present and covers historical topics such as exploration, early settlement, the environment, and the gold rush. The emphasis is on Los Angeles County and the greater Southern California region."
Online Archive of California (OAC)
This site provides finding aids for collections within institutions, but not all have digitized material online. Those that do provide digitized material are designated with a little eye icon. Use the map function to browse.
Mapping of Southern California historical societies
Historical societies are (usually) small museums dedicated to preserving the local history of a city, town, or region. They tend to have small budgets and staff, so they don't normally provide digitized collections, but you can contact them about seeing artifacts and archives in person.

Some historical societies’ sites provide a brief overview of their region’s history – for example, here is one from Vista.

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AMD 412: Advanced Digital Photography Fieldwork

Primary sources/Digital collections