Review of the website http://primary-sources.eui.eu

A website that would gather addresses and links to other digital archives or scholar databases was really needed. In fact so many institutions, universities or archives digitize and put online their sources but it is often difficult, and sometime impossible, to find their address or even to know of their existence. For this purpose really helpful for the researchers is the website titled “European History Primary Sources” created by the Library and the Department of History and Civilization of the European University Institute in Florence in Italy, which guarantee to the user an academic quality. It contains links to primary sources websites, which are very handy, gathering internet platforms of all the countries of the European continent mainly but containing also indications regarding American websites, a state which is not indicated in the browse options.

Several tools can be applied to refine the search selecting the country, the language or the type of source needed; but maybe the most important is the possibility to select the targeted historical period. Every website stored in the “European History Primary Sources” is introduced by a small review and description of the nature and the quantity of sources accessible to facilitate the choice of the user, which is a very researcher friendly action. The bookmark option is also an application meant to gain time and energy saving the results for a later moment, which not many websites offer and more of them should. The interface is quite simple and instinctive so that the user does not really has a chance to get lost.

The number of partners is still a bit limited but hopefully the website will gather all the existing primary sources digital archives and deliver the scholar or the student from driving out interesting and useful sources from hidden and unknown places of the web and possibly to miss them. However even now it is a very useful tool.

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