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Primary & Secondary Sources: Getting Started

Use this guide to better understand the difference between a primary and secondary source and to locate sources for your subject.

Introduction

What is a Primary Source? - Primary sources are records that provide first-hand testimony or evidence of an event, action, topic, or time period. Primary sources can vary depending on the subject.

What is a Secondary Source? - Secondary sources put primary sources in context. They summarize, interpret, analyze, or comment on  information found in primary sources.

Letter from King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598). Courtesy, L.Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/Philip2Corr/id/251/rec/56

Use the UW Catalog to Find Sources

Use the Catalog Search option on the UW Libraries homepage to find primary sources about a person or event. Search using some of the keywords that describe your subject in combination with one or more of the following terms:

  • personal narratives 
  • manuscripts
  • indexes
  • letters    
  • archives
  • bibliography
  • correspondence
  • records
  • catalogs
  • diaries
  • documents
  • guides
  • memoirs 
  • sources
  • thesis
  • travelers 
  • papers of...
  • travelers' writings

Example: immigrants and (letters or correspondence or diaries)

Search Tips:

“And” narrows your results.

“Or” is more and is used primarily with synonyms or related terms. Best to put “or” terms in parentheses.

Truncation: A search term can be shortened by using a * as a truncation symbol. This allows one search to retrieve singular or plural forms, different spellings of a word or name, or different forms of a word. However, this may widen your search too much so use it carefully.

For example: travel* will retrieve: travel, travels, traveler, traveller, travelers, travellers, traveling, traveled

Search QuickSearch Scopes

UW Libraries QuickSearch: includes the collections of the University Libraries, UW Law Library, and the American Heritage Center. Searches almost everything.

Use this QuickSearch link to search Books, E-Books & Media.

Lastly, use this QuickSearch link to search Course Reserves.

Interlibrary Loan: UW students, faculty and staff can request books, journal volumes, journal articles and other materials, regardless of whether it is available in the UW Libraries, online or in libraries around the world. A free service! Interlibrary Loan link.

Library Search/Retrieval Options

 

UW Libraries QuickSearch: includes the collections of the University Libraries, UW Law Library, and the American Heritage Center.

 


Prospector: a unified catalog of twenty-three academic, public and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. UW students, faculty and staff can borrow materials from Prospector.

 

 

yellow arrow on a sky blue boxInterlibrary Loan: UW students, faculty and staff can request books, journal volumes, journal articles and other materials, regardless of whether it is available in the UW Libraries, online or in libraries around the world. A free service!

 

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