Finding Historical Primary Sources: By Topic, Author, Title, Date

Topic

Search UC Library Search by keywords or official subject headings.  To find official subject headings:

• Search by keywords, display the long form of the record for an appropriate item, and then click on one of the subject headings that are listed
• Ask for assistance

You may also pair an appropriate subject heading with additional subject terms that identify materials as primary sources. Some of these terms are:

• correspondence
• diaries
• early works to 1800
• interviews
• pamphlets
• periodicals
• personal narratives
• sources

Note: these subject terms will not retrieve all possible primary sources but they are a good way to start.

Examples:

• vietnamese conflict 1961-1975 personal narratives
• student movements japan history sources
• france revolution correspondence

Search article databases by keywords, or official subject terms/descriptors.

source

Name of an individual or organization as an author:

• Search UC Library Search for the name; to narrow by items created by the individual or organization, filter by author (on the left of the search results screen);
  • alternatively go to the advanced search to pull down the "any field" menu to author and redo the search
• Search article databases for the individual or organization as author (last name, first name)

• Search article databases for the name of the individual or organization as a subject.

source

Specific title

• Title of a book, manuscript, diary, etc.: search UC Library Search; if necessary, go to the Advanced Search, pull down the "any field" menu to title and redo the search.

• Title of a journal/magazine/newspaper: search UC Library Search by the title and change the search scope (which will appear as you type) to "journals;
  • alternatively, search UC Library Search by title and limit by resource type:  newspaper artices, or articles, etc.

• Title of an article: search UC Library Search by the name of the journal/ magazine/ newspaper in which the article appeared (as above)

• If you do not know the name of the journal/magazine/newspaper in which the article appeared, search for the title, subject, or author of the article in UC Library Search or in an article databases. Find the complete citation (title of journal, date, volume, etc.); then search UC Library Search for the title of the journal

• Some journals/magazines/newspapers are available online (scroll down to sections for articles, American or European).

source

• Search UC Library Search using any of the techniques listed above; use the filters (on the left of the search results screen) to limit by date of publication to find materials published during the time period you are writing about. You can also sort your search results by date.

• Search the article databases using any of the techniques listed above; limit by date of publication to find materials published during the time period you are writing about.

source