Familiarizing Yourself with Background Information
Reference Source A good first step in finding primary sources is to familiarize yourself with your topic. The library reference collection is a great place to get started.
Examples of Reference Sources:
Where to Find?
Primary sources may be in their original format or may have been reproduced at a later date in a different format. Library Catalogs, electronic databases, and the Web are tools can be used to find primary sources.
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Tool
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What to Find
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| Library Catalogs | To find primary sources in the libraries, EXCEPT ARTICLES, use the Library Catalog. Using the catalog, you can find primary source materials such as, addresses, correspondences, diaries, documents, eyewitnesses, interviews, maps, music scores, periodicals, personal narratives, photographs, speeches, and sound recording. | |
| Online Databases |
Some primary sources are digitized in subscription databases:
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Where to Search |
| Books published from the time period you are researching | Search the Library Catalog Advanced Search and limit by year of publication. |
| Addresses, autobiographies, correspondences, diaries, documents, evidence, events, eyewitnesses, interviews, letters, memoirs, oral history, pictorial works, personal narratives, sources, speeches, transcripts, political cartoons, etc. |
For this type of material, search the Library Catalog by topic (in most cases, names of events) and add the appropriate type of primary source. Use AND to link the topic and the source type Formula
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| Newspaper articles, advertisements, cartoons etc. from the time period you're researching |
For newspaper articles or other type of materials on newspapers:
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| Magazine articles from the time period you are researching |
For magazine articles or other type of materials on magazines:
If you have the citation already, use Journal Name Search to determine whether the magazine is available at CSULA Library. |
| Records of government agencies |
Search the Library Catalog Advanced Search using Subject/Keyword and limit Collection Type to Government Documents. For complete records of government agencies, go to Government Information Resources & Services page at http://libguides.calstatela.edu/GIS. |
| Fiction, stories and plays from a particular time period |
Consult one of the following printed indexes in the library:
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| Audio/Video Materials |
Search the Library Catalog Advanced Search using Subject/Keyword and limit Collection Format to Videos, DVDs, or Sound Recordings. Or Consult one of the following
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| Materials in other libraries |
Multi-Search, or Open WorldCat provides catalog access to 110+ million holdings worldwide. Includes catalog records for books, journals, films, sound recordings, videos, etc. It is a good tool for you to find books in your local libraries or other libraries. Since many primary source materials are rare books hosted in library archives or special collections, these items cannot be borrowed through the interlibrary loan service. Open WorldCat helps you identify which library has a particular item, so you can plan to make a trip to a local library to use the item. |