Use these terms as keywords, alongside keywords or subject headings related to your topic, to search for primary sources related to your topic. Try to think about in what format the information might have been recorded in during that Historical Time Period.
Example: personal narratives AND "south africa" (see image below for other example)
Primary sources include a variety of materials written or created during the time period of the topic you are researching.
Primary Sources Online: Finding, Evaluating, and Using from the American Library Association
Library collections include primary sources in a variety of formats. Most of those in the Hope College Libraries are in book form. In some cases, the content of the book has been transferred to microfiche or a special type of microfiche known as ultrafiche.
One method for finding books that may be considered primary sources is to search PRIMO using keywords that describe your topic in combination with the following terms:
Remember that you may need to think about your topic broadly to find primary sources using this method. After actually looking at the source you will know whether or not it effectively addresses your specific topic.
For additional assistance locating and using primary source materials, please consult the Van Wylen Library Reference Desk.
There are many primary source collections freely available online.
Try searching on national library websites of countries you are researching, or do a very broad search on your topic in combination with words/phrases like "digital archive" or "primary sources" or "digitized" or "digital collection."
For example:
jane addams digital collection
france national library digitized
Hope College is now affilliated with the Center for Research Libraries. This gives us access to a great number of important historical resources, in print, microfilm and online. These can be ordered through ILL. Start looking for materials in their online catalog. Also, you can browse for newspapers by country and by city.