Professor Chester

HIST 4339

Tips for Finding Primary Sources

1. Try a keyword search in Chinook.

2. When you find something promising, click on its subject headings to find similar items.

3. Repeat that search in Prospector (a catalog and ILL network of regional libraries).  If you find something useful, click on “Request this item” to have it delivered to Norlin in a few days.

4. Repeat that search again in Worldcat (an international catalog and ILL network, available through the library website).  If you find something useful, click on “Request from ILLiad” to have it delivered to Norlin in about two weeks.

Other ideas:

• Track down the primary sources listed in your secondary accounts’ bibliographies.

• See the library’s subject guides, especially “Finding Historical Primary Sources” and “Finding Guides to the British Studies Primary Source Research Collections”.

• Talk to a reference librarian.