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Primary Sources Home: Trible Library

finding primary source materials

Finding Primary Sources in the Trible Library Catalog

  • The online catalog is a search engine of the print and media resources owned by the library.
  • Suggested terms to look for include - diary, diaries, letters, papers, documents, documentary correspondence.

KEYWORD SEARCHING

  • Combine the above terms with the event or person you are researching
  • Some examples are provided below

SUBJECT SEARCHING

  • Search by Subject  for specific people or events, then scan the results for keywords such as correspondence, sources, personal narratives,  speeches, pamphlets, etc.

Tip: Subject searches for people should be formatted as last name first name (with or without a comma)

AUTHOR SEARCHING

  •  Search for specific people that you are aware of that were involved in the event, knew the person, or for the person himself as an author
  • Not everything a person writes is necessarily a primary source - you are writing a paper, but it wouldn't be considered a primary source, so you would still need to look through the results and evaluate the source.
  • Tip: Author searches should be formatted as last name first name (with or without a comma)

Search for More

Find More items in Trible Library

 

  • Suggested terms to look for include - diary, diaries, letters, papers, documents, documentary or correspondence.
  • Combine these these terms with the event or person you are researching. (example: civil war diary)
  • Also search by subject for specific people and events, then scan the titles for those keywords or others such as memoirs, autobiography, report, or personal narratives.
  • An additional option is to do a search on a topic and use the "Resource Type" limiter on the left side of the results and choose the option "Primary Sources" - please note this is extremely limiting as most primary source materials are not marked in records with this resource type and you will miss seeing a large number of useful items.
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