Smith College Libraries Research: Search for Primary Sources



	Research > Find Primary Sources > Search for Primary Sources

Primary sources may be in their original format or may have been reproduced, for example as a book, microfilm collection, video, or on the Internet. All of these formats except Internet sources can be found by searching library catalogs (see search strategies below).

For important advice on finding and evaluating primary sources on the Internet, see Using Primary Sources on the Web from the History Section of the Reference & User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

To search and visit archival collections, see the Five College Primary Source Research Guide and search for Five College archival collections. Search OAIster to find digitized collections on the Internet. To find magazine, journal or newspaper articles, click here. The SCL Find Images page also has useful links.

Before you start searching it may be useful to find some background information on your topic.

Type of Primary Source		Search Strategy
1848 pamphlet [click image to enlarge]	Books from the time period you're writing about	Search the Five College Library Catalog by subject or keyword You may also search by author if you have a specific person or organization in mind Limit by publication date (on the advanced search screen) for a more precise search But, use publication dates with caution! You’ll lose primary source material published as a reprint or at a later date
Page from desk diary of Margaret Sanger, 1937 [click image to enlarge]	Published memoirs, letters, interviews, autobiographies, diaries – and manuscript collections	If you have a specific person in mind, search the Five College Library Catalog by author If you do not have a specific person in mind, search the Five College Library Catalog using subject keyword and add one of the subheadings below: correspondence diaries interviews personal narrative sources Example: subject keywords: japanese americans interview You may also string these subheadings together in a keyword search: freedmen and (correspondence or diaries or interviews or personal narratives or sources)
Cover of Ms Magazine, July 1972 [click image to enlarge]	Magazine, journal, or newspaper article from the time period you're writing about	Use one of the library’s many databases to look for articles (which one you use will depend on the time period and geographic area of interest) In particular, try some of the databases on this digital primary sources page, including digitized published sources as well as magazines and newspapers. Note that Smith also has many 18th, 19th, and 20th century magazines in print Ask a librarian for suggestions on these and additional sources
House Report on Women's Bureau [click image to enlarge]	Records of government agencies	Search the Five College Library Catalog for the name of the government agency using the author keywords search Also consult the library’s subject page for government See "government documents" on the digital primary sources page A search with Google/unclesam retrieves information on U.S. government websites.

Thank you, UC Berkeley! We would like to thank the UC Berkeley libraries for allowing us to use and adapt their excellent guide, Library Research: Finding Primary Sources, on which this page is based.

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Last Updated: August 20, 2008