Primary Sources

Use the Beeghly Library (OPAL) Catalog to search for primary-source collections in our library, including ebooks.

For a broader search with more results, use the OhioLINK catalog.

Finding primary sources in the library catalog becomes a lot easier when you know the words used to describe them. 

Subject Terms

Many books with primary sources indicate that in their Subject tags, using certain set terms like "sources" or "diaries." You can limit your results to only records with these terms in the subject by adding them on a seperate line and changing that line's field to Subject (see the example below) or by putting the words inside parenthesis that has "d:" in front of it. Ex. d:(diaries)

Some common subject terms for primary sources are:

• Autobiographies—mostly used for collections of autobiographical works.
• Correspondence—used for letters between people.
• Diaries—attached to personal names or categories of people.
• Letters—follows name.  Used less frequently than "correspondence" but pulls some works.
• Personal Narratives—somewhat ambiguous term, used for sources such as memoirs, oral histories, and interviews.
• Sources—catch-all term for primary sources, often used in collections with many types of primary sources.

Other Useful Search Words

• Sourcebook—can be used in the title for large, varied collections of sources on a single topic, such as The Third Reich Sourcebook. Some sourcebooks may also include important secondary works as well. 
• Documents—catch-all term, commonly used in the title of books that have a secondary history section along with primary sources, such as Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History With Documents.
• Documentary—another catch-all term for primary sources, often used in the title of collections with many types of primary sources, such as Beyond Rosie: A Documentary History of Women and World War II.
• Journals—meaning a recording of daily activities or observations.  Avoid the singular form as it primarily pulls scholarly periodicals with “journal” in the title.  Many personal accounts include journal as part of the title, as in She Was a Sister Sailor: The Whaling Journals of Mary Brewster.
• Memoirs—commonly used in titles.
• Eyewitness—often used in titles and descriptions, especially for news sources.

Author Search retrieves any works written by a specific person. Helpful with some primary source searches since you will get results written by Frederick Douglass rather than about him, for example. 

Enter names as Last Name, First Name