Skip to Main Content

History 299: The Holocaust: Global Perspective

What is a primary source

Primary sources are immediate, first-hand account of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it.  Newspapers, letters, diaries, government reports, images, etc., can all be considered primary sources.  These sources are published and shared in a variety of ways.  See below for some suggestions for finding primary sources:
  • In Catalyst, search your topic and include words like letters, diary, correspondence, interview, autobiograpphy, etc. as keywords
     
  • In Catalyst, search your topic.  When the results appear, look to the left and scroll down to the category of filters called Genre/Form.  Open this set of filters and look for terms that would point to a primary source.  Sources is also a category here and it frequently includes primary sources.
     
  • On the open web search your topic and use some of the same words as above but also use words like archive or museum.

Archives and Museum Collections

Library Databases