Primary Source Material

Primary Source Material

Why should I use primary source material?

A library houses books, also known as secondary sources, which by their very nature, are mass produced, edited, and usually composites of numerous works. An archive maintains documentation which is predominantly unique, unpublished, and irreplaceable, in both form and substance. The majority of materials found in an archive are considered to be primary sources - those that provide individual first-hand knowledge, research, and/or documentation of events, personalities, or as in the Lagomarsino Collection, social topics and issues of concern at the time.

The Lagomarsino Collection not only benefits students and scholars interested in politics or history; it also provides valuable primary resource material for such areas of study as agriculture, economics, education, environment, civil rights, crime, family concerns, foreign affairs, health interests, labor law, trade, transportation, and veterans' affairs.

The Lagomarsino Collection can also be utilized in conjunction with that of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. We wholeheartedly encourage use of this collection, especially for students preparing for graduate study.

 

Is a finding guide available?

Please feel free to stop by and tour the archives. We are always available to answer questions regarding the collection and will make every attempt to accommodate your research needs. A Finding Guide is available, a portion of which is accessible from this website, as well as general information on how to use the archives. We highly suggest contacting the archivist before your actual visit, to determine how the collection can best serve your research requirements. Archival personnel and seating space are limited; therefore, the archivist must schedule appointments in order to accommodate reference requests and designate seating for researchers.