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Surviving the history JP: basic advice

Content from this guide may also appear in guides for individual junior seminars.

Finding primary sources in library catalogs

To find primary sources in Books+  use the Advanced Search form to search for keywords or subject headings plus terms like:

  • sources
  • diaries
  • correspondence
  • personal narrative

Note: for many topics, there are highly specific subject headings like:

  • France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Sources.
  • Ireland--History--Sources.
  • United States--Foreign relations--Cuba--Sources.
  • Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century--Sources.

To find the papers of an individual, do an Author search, e.g. jackson, andrew

To find the records of an organization or government body, do an Author search, e.g. United States. Dept. of State

To find works published in a particular time and place, try limiting your search by date, language, or location (click on the orange "set limits" button on the search screen).