REL 344 Christianity in the Middle Ages: Books

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:

• sources;
• personal narratives;
• diaries;
• correspondence;
• interviews;
• church records and registers;
• sermons;
• early works;
• wills;
• photographs.

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.

Example keyword searches:

• fathers of the church
• medieval Christianity
• pilgrimage Middle Ages
• medieval Christian
• middle ages OR medieval AND civilization
• pilgrimage AND to 1500
• heresy AND middle ages or medieval
• heresy
• medieval church
• public worship AND medieval
• Eucharist AND middle ages
• middle ages OR medieval AND sourcebook

Example subject searches:
Church history -- Middle Ages, 600-1500

Public worship -- History

Preaching -- History

Sacraments -- History of doctrines

Searching Tips

• Try different groups of keywords to see what different kinds of results you get
• From the results, click on a title that looks interesting; your search terms will show up in red.
• Look for Subject headings in the record that match your topic and try searching under these as a subject search.
• If you click on one of the subject headings links in a record, it will bring up a list of similar subjects that might also be helpful.
• Not finding many books on your topic? After trying a search, look for the     button to do the same search in WorldCat, a shared catalog of libraries around the world. We can order many of these items for you through InterLibrary Loan.