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Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources: How-to's

Locating Primary Source Material in the Catalog/Databases

When searching for primary sources in the library catalog or in the databases, include terms such as the list below using the subject field in conjunction with your topic terms in another field - i.e. keyword, title, etc.

anecdotes archives caricatures and cartooons correspondence diaries description and travel history-sources interviews letters manuscripts
newspapers oratory personal narratives photographs pictorial works  portraits public opinion sources speeches

statistics

 

Sample Searches

Asia (KEYWORD) AND silk road (KEYWORD) AND Description and travel (SUBJECT)

Civil War (SUBJECT) AND United States (Subject) AND Correspondence (SUBJECT)

African Americans (SUBJECT) AND Civil rights (SUBJECT) AND Interviews (SUBJECT)

Vietnam War, 1961-1975, (SUBJECT) AND protest (KEYWORD) AND Sources (SUBJECT)

 

For a detailed document listing the appropriate subheadings to use for specific types of primary resource material, click here.