Finding Primary Sources in the Ebook Catalog

Finding Primary Sources in the Ebook Catalog

Listed below are a number of special subject headings that you can use to locate primary source materials in a library’s catalog and databases.

  • archives
  • correspondence
  • diaries
  • case studies
  • description and travel
  • speeches
  • sources
  • interviews
  • manuscripts
  • public opinion
  • songs and music
  • maps
  • notebooks
  • personal narratives
  • posters
  • statistics
  • caricatures and cartoons
  • comic books, strips, etc.

To create a search statement to find primary source materials, select one of the terms from above and combine it with a keyword on your topic. Below are examples of primary source searches.  Try a few practice searches in the catalog and see what you find.

  • holocaust AND personal narratives
  • slavery AND sources
  • World War, 1939-1945 AND diaries

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