REL 345 The Reformation: 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 searches:

• women reformation (keyword)
• Luther, Martin, 1483-1546 -- Adversaries (Subject Heading)
• Reformation (using filter "Genre" and "Sources")
• Reformation early modern (keyword)
• Early Modern England (keyword)
• Reformation -- germany (subject heading)
• rhetoric reformation (keyword)
• Calvin Theology (keyword)
• Europe -- Religious life and customs (subject heading)
• Early Protestant Spirituality

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.