HIST 6000: Historical Methods and Research: Finding Primary Sources in the USU Library

For full text searching of American periodicals published from the late 18th century through the very early 20th century, use American Periodical Series.

For more popular publications, use the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature or Poole's Guide to Periodical Literature (see below--must be pulled from the BARN). 

There are many ways to incorporate visual media into your research and presentation including photographs, images of works of art, maps, video. The following links are just a launching point. For additional help, please don't hesitate to ask.

The Library subscribes to several databases of primary source documents including historical newspapers, letters and diaries, and images. Additionally, many libraries, museums, and educational institutions provide free access to the historical materials included in their collections. The links below are only a small selection of what is available. 

NEWSPAPERS:

DOCUMENT COLLECTIONS:

BOOKS:

Many primary sources are available for check-out from the library stacks. These include republished collections of letters, diaries, memoirs, image collections, and even reprinted archival collections.  This type of information is often easiest to locate through a simple keyword search combining the term "sources" with a relavent term.  Another effective method is browsing subject headings in the online catalog or browsing the shelves. 

Useful search strategies include trying a controlled subject heading:

Personal Narratives. [Nationality] and browse by subject. 
(e.g. Personal Narratives. German. World War, 1935-1945)

Alternatively, use the "Personal Narratives" subject keyword search with other subject keywords such as women, a nationality, or a state.