HIST-300 Workshop: War (Elukin): Start Here

Discovery of primary sources is a dynamic process that requires you to think critically about how to find the information you seek. Through this process, you will determine what you are looking for, where it may be found, who produced it, and how it may be incorporated into your assigned papers and projects. 

At the Trinity Library you have access to a wide range of primary sources from newspapers, images, letters, memoirs, diaries, and much more. You also have search tools and people to assist you in finding this information. 

Before you start searching, consider the following steps in the research process.

First steps 

• Do a little bit of background reading on the topic 
• Consult a secondary source or two to understand the context and the world in which your primary source was created
• Many primary sources can be found within the bibliographies and notes in secondary sources

Next steps 

• What does the Trinity Library have for resources that might help you find the information you need?
• Where do you look?
• Who might be producing the information you need? 
• What resources contain that information?
• Identify key words that you can use later on in a search. These include: events, people, places, ideas
• In searching for primary sources, select the database that is most appropriate for your topic area
• Try a wide range of search terms to locate information. Rarely is there ever a perfect search
• Don't stop searching if you get no results or too many. Refine you search instead

Books and Journal Articles are great resources to learn more about a topic, and also to discover primary sources, especially in notes and bibliographies contained within the book or article. 

Try OneSearch for books and the four article databases for scholarly journal articles. 

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