Hello, this is the library research guide for HIST 411 and HIST 413 with Professor Shahla Young, with tips on finding primary sources in books and recommended databases with primary source material.
We have a guide to citing your sources (remember to use Chicago style).
Need help? Feel free to contact Laurel Bliss, lbliss@sdsu.edu.
Primary source documents are frequently collected in published books. To find these collections in our OneSearch system, follow these steps.
1. Brainstorm some keywords and phrases about your topic. If you were researching women's suffrage in America, for example, some good keywords and phrases might be "suffrage," "women," "feminis*," "nineteenth amendment," "vote*," or "activis*". (Note: the asterisk is used to truncate a word, so the system will search for all variations).
2. At the Advanced Search, pair your keyword with some of them common words found in subject headings for primary sources. These include:
* sources
* correspondence
* diaries
* speeches
* personal narratives
* documents
* interviews
3. If you want to impose any limits on your search, such as as location or language, choose them in the options box. Then click Submit.
4. Browse your results and click on titles which sound relevant or useful to your topic.
List of primary source databases that are either free or that the library subscribes to.
Search across all subscribed History Vault Collections, covering primary sources for historical events including Civil Rigths, military actions, social movements, and more.
