GHS210: Digital Media Project: Finding Information

What is a primary source? In short, it is the firsthand account of history. This can include all types of materials - newspapers, letters, diaries, videos, etc. 

We have a number of databases that focus on primary source materials that may be interesting for you to use - either for information or media/image sources. See the word cloud below (Powered by Wordart.com).

These are more subject-specific:

How can you find additional primary resources?

1. A Google search can normally bring these resources to light. Try this trick:
   • Add "site:.edu" after your search term to limit to university resources, like LibGuides or university library collections.
   • Add "site:.gov" after your search term to limit to U.S. government resources. You can also add .eu for European resources, or look up the domain for any particular country.
   • Add "site:.org" after your search term to limit to organization sites. Note: not all organizations are credible!! However, many museums use this domain.
2. Ask a librarian! 

Keywords

What you put into the search box matters quite a bit. Here are some tips:

• Use nouns whenever possible. Adjectives and verbs can be tricky
• If you're using phrases, put them in " " to tell the search to find the words together, in that order
• Explore alternate terms. For example - freedom: independence, self-governance, self-determination, etc.

Finding Too Much? 

• Be more specific with your topic. For example - "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" instead of Holocaust
• Narrow down your: group of people, geography, time span, or scope

Keep a search log with your group so you can know who's searched where, for what terms.

Save your sources so you have access to any citation information later, but be sure to save more than just browser URLs! Those can break and leave you stranded with no way to get back to the source.