Contemporary sources are those written at the time of original publication. Often, the best reason to use contemporary sources is to either 1) see how the work was received by the public or 2) to find influences on the work. As an example of the first, Trifles (1916) was not immediately popular with critics but is now seen as before-its-time. As an example of the second, The Lottery (1948) could be seen as a commentary on how people went along with the Holocaust, so using historical accounts from that time might be appropriate.
So, to find out how the work was received by the public, first identify the date of publication.
- Then, go to NY Times (how to sign up for your free account). The New York Times can be found in the library database list.
- Search for the title in quotes.
- Click on the Sort By pulldown and change it to Sort by Oldest. Look in the top right-hand corner.
- Find articles within a couple years of the publication date.
To find out influences on the work, look at events that happened 5 to 10 years before the publication date… Wikipedia would be fine to find the events. To learn more about those events, look them up in our History databases (best bets databases would be perfect).
If you have any questions, please ask a librarian!
