• Primary Sources: What's in the Library?

    Primary sources are great for historical research. Learn more using this guide.

    Page Contents

    The library has three collections of primary sources:

    Archives & Special Collections

    Learn about history of LWC, the city of Columbia, the commonwealth of Kentucky, and more! Ask one of the library staff members to access this collection. It has restricted access in order to preserve the collection. Some of the items are more than 150 years old.


    The Lindsey Wilson College Archives contains:

    • Materials on the history of the college (i.e., yearbooks, pictures, newspaper articles).
    • Materials on the history of The United Methodist Church.
    • A collection of Bibles.
    • An oral history collection about Adair County and LWC.
    • Special Collections - This area holds an assortment of old and rare books, some of which date back to the 1860s.
    • The Thomas Clark Room, which was named after the late Kentucky historian, contains a non-circulating collection of books on Kentucky and the Appalachian region and by Kentucky authors.

    *Please Note:

    1. You must make an appointment to view any material in-person, or
    2. You must make a request to obtain a copy of a material.
    3. The actual items CANNOT leave the library.

    If you have any questions regarding the materials available, please contact the library for more information at library@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8102.

    Government Documents

    Katie Murrell Library participates in the Federal Deposit Library Program (FDLP) and is a congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents, which provides the public with direct access to government information in practically every federal government entity. To access the FDLP, click on the logo image below.

    For assistance with Gov Docs in the library, contact Allison Rea at reaa@lindsey.edu or click this link for the Government Documents Research Guide, which has more information on this department.

    Search for Gov Docs online:

    1. at GovInfo.gov. GovInfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of our federal government; or
    2. in the Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP). CGP provides online access to historical and current publications

    Databases and Electronic resources

    These are some of the databases and electronic resources available through the Katie Murrell Library and allow you to find resources that are considered primary sources.