Find Primary Sources

Primary sources may be in their original format or may have been reproduced, for example as a book, microfilm collection, video, or on the Internet. All of these formats except Internet sources can be found by searching library catalogs (see search strategies below).

Before you start searching it may be useful to find some background information on your topic.

Type of Primary Source		Search Strategy
1848 pamphlet [click image to enlarge]	Books from the time period you're writing about	Search the Five College Library Catalog by subject or keyword You may also search by author if you have a specific person or organization in mind Limit by publication date (on the advanced search screen) for a more precise search But, use publication dates with caution! You’ll lose primary source material published as a reprint or at a later date
Page from desk diary of Margaret Sanger, 1937 [click image to enlarge]	Published memoirs, letters, interviews, autobiographies, diaries – and manuscript collections	If you have a specific person in mind, search the Five College Library Catalog by author If you do not have a specific person in mind, search the Five College Library Catalog using subject keyword and add one of the subheadings below: correspondence diaries interviews personal narrative sources Example: subject keywords: japanese americans interview You may also string these subheadings together in a keyword search: freedmen and (correspondence or diaries or interviews or personal narratives or sources)
Cover of Ms Magazine, July 1972 [click image to enlarge]	Magazine, journal, or newspaper article from the time period you're writing about	Use one of the library’s many article databases (which one you use will depend on the time period and geographic area of interest) In particular, try some of the databases on the Magazines, Journals, Newspapers tab or Books & More page of this guide. Note that Smith also has many 18th, 19th, and 20th century magazines in print Ask Us for suggestions on these and additional sources
House Report on Women's Bureau [click image to enlarge]	Records of government agencies	Search the Five College Library Catalog for the name of the government agency using the author keywords search Also consult the library’s Government subject page See "government documents" on the Books & More tab of this guide Use Google Advanced Search, and narrow by "site or domain" to .gov to retrieve information on U.S. government websites

Thank you, UC Berkeley! We would like to thank the UC Berkeley libraries for allowing us to use and adapt their excellent guide, Library Research: Finding Primary Sources, on which this page is based.

Using Primary Sources on the Web (Reference & User Services Association, American Library Association) - advice on finding and evaluating primary sources on the Internet.

Five College Primary Source Research Guide - information about searching and visiting archival collections.

OAIster - search for digitized collections on the Internet.

Journal Locator - search by journal, magazine, or newspaper title to find articles at Smith.

Find Images - Smith College Libraries' resources for finding images.