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International Studies

This guide lists American University Library databases and print resources, and free Web sites that are of use to the study and research of International Studies.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are materials that are eye witness accounts or as close to the original source as possible.  They include:

  • What people say.
    They are usually Speeches, Interviews and Conversations, and they may be captured in Videos, Audio Recordings, or transcribed into text.
  • What people write. 
    These include Autobiographies, Memoirs, Personal Journals and Diaries, Letters, Emails, Blogs, Twitter Feeds, etc.
  • Images and Videos.
  • Statistics and Data.
  • Opinion Polls and Surveys.
  • Maps.
  • Government Documents.
  • Laws, Court Cases and Decisions, Treaties.
  • Newspapers.

Please note that a book is simply a format.  You can find primary and secondary sources published in book form.