Primary Sources in the Humanities  Tags: primary_sources humanities  

Primary texts in print are listed in LOUIS, our online catalog, in the form of books, government documents, newspapers, magazines, and journals.

*Remember, provide yourself enough time to do your research! It takes time to gather raw material, synthesize it, and draw conclusions about its relevance and meaning.

1. Identify the topic words you will use for your search. Use encyclopedias and other background resources to identify key participants, dates, and publications (reports, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, etc.) associated with your topic.
2. Go to LOUIS and use the Advanced Search screen.
3. Put your topic words (people, places, events) in the top box with the Keyword(s) Anywhere Search Type selected.
   Some examples:
   
   
   warsaw ghetto uprising
   (slaves or slavery) and united states
   (women or wives or wife) and united states
   
   
4. Put the type of primary text or texts you are looking for in the second box and select the Keyword(s) in Subject Search Type. You must use one of the words listed below; primary text catalog records generally use one of these words as part of their subject heading(s). Skip this step when looking for literary works not covered by any of the terms below.
   
   
   sources [one of the most common words that identifies primary texts]
   document* [note the wild card character at the end of this term]
   personal narratives
   correspondence
   letters
   diaries
   interviews
   speeches
   quotations
   periodicals [identifies newspapers, magazines or journals]
   manuscripts
   reports

   *You may want to combine some of the above words using "or"

   Example:
   
   sources or personal narratives or correspondence or diaries
   
   
5. Click on the Go button.

   For example, if you enter in LOUIS (Advanced Search) the search

   Keyword(s) anywhere: (slaves or slavery) and united states
   Words in Subject: sources or personal narratives or correspondence or diaries

   you will obtain results that include Families and Freedom: A Documentary History of African-American Kinship in the Civil War Era and The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives.

   Note: Some of your results might include primary texts in microform or electronic format. Look under the "Research by Material Type" tab for Finding Primary Texts in Microform or Finding Primary Texts in Electronic Format for more information.

1. Go to a journal or periodical index that covers the period in which you are interested. Indexes will be in either electronic or print format. Some examples of indexes you might want to use are:

   Nineteenth Century Masterfile
   Indexes periodicals, books, newspapers, and government documents produced during the nineteenth century

   Reader's Guide Retrospective
   Indexes and abstracts more than 200 popular magazines published in the U.S., 1890 through 1982

   If you are having trouble finding an index that covers the material and time period you are looking for, please consult a reference librarian.

2. If the index is in print format, search for your topic words in the volumes of the index (each volume covers a certain year or group of years). If you are using an online index, do a keyword search for your topic words.
3. You will find citations listed that give the title of a journal (or magazine or newspaper), the title of an article, the year, issue, and volume number of the journal, and the page numbers. Make a note of each complete citation you want to find.
4. Go to LOUIS and use the Basic Search screen.
5. Change the Search type to Journal Title starting with, put the name of the newspaper, magazine, or journal in the search box, and execute your search with the Go button.
6. If Brandeis owns the newspaper, magazine, or journal, then find the call number in the stacks and look up the article you need, or connect directly to the online resource through LOUIS. If Brandeis does not own the material, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan or see a reference librarian about visiting a local Boston Library Consortium library to see the article in person.