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Primary sources are relied on across curricula
See why ProQuest is your best partner to supply these important resources.
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Six Centuries of Essential Documents
Engage, inspire and inform researchers at every level with unmatched historical collections
Primary sources are vital for advanced scholarship in many disciplines. They are also increasingly used in undergraduate classes to develop critical thinking and interdisciplinary understanding. Over decades, ProQuest has developed unique relationships with museums, specialty archives and other content providers around the world to offer unparalleled primary source collections – some available digitally only from ProQuest – that engage, inspire and inform researchers at every level.
Why ProQuest?
365M+
Pages of world class collections
325 Years
Historical periodical content
350 Years
Global, national and regional newspapers that deliver in-the-moment insights
600 Years+
Historically chronicled from multiple perspectives
Solutions for libraries
Make budget dollars go further
Because ProQuest primary source collections are unmatched in depth and breadth, their relevance expands beyond history to support multidisciplinary studies, ensuring high usage and better ROI. ProQuest also offers flexible purchasing and access options to meet budget needs.
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Grow or complete collections while saving space and better serving users
Digitized primary sources – many collections available digitally only from ProQuest – can fill in gaps or replace physical holdings that might be lost or damaged, and are accessible to users 24/7 on campus or online.
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Support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
Ensure collections reflect a variety of voices, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, and political or religious beliefs. ProQuest provides authentic collections to support research and learning in areas such as the Black freedom struggle, women’s suffrage and liberation, Native American studies and many others.
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Faculty demand primary sources for teaching and learning
Faculty need materials to engage students and help them explore issues and events from a variety of perspectives. Primary sources enable novice researchers to form their own, informed conclusions and support the development of critical thinking and digital literacy skills. ProQuest collections map to curriculum so they can be easily integrated into course plans and syllabi.
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Access content frequently used in academic research
Analysis of full-text dissertations and scholarly journals published on the ProQuest platform from 2001-2018 found over 260,000 works that cited our historical primary source collections, including periodicals and specialty collections.
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Inspire engaging and successful teaching and learning
First person accounts from multiple sources – including government records, personal correspondence, organizational documents, diaries, photos and more - enable users to explore the complexity of issues and provide evidence for their conclusions. The result: better outcomes on assignments and projects.
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Pursue new avenues of discovery
Rare and unique documents – many available only from ProQuest – provide opportunities to uncover little known or previously overlooked perspectives of trending topics in research and learning -- Black history, gender studies, LGBTQ+ culture, international conflicts and much more – that engage and inspire users.
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