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College English

Prof. Scheckner

  October 24, 2006

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
Leigh Keller

lkeller1@ramapo.edu

x7316

 I. Library Homepage

  • Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

II. What are primary sources?

  • Primary Sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. The information and ideas were either created during the time period or created later by a participant or observer of the event being studied.

Some Examples of Primary Sources

  • Memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, and other first-person accounts
  • Official publications, government documents, court reports and police records
  • Newspaper and magazine articles from the period under study
  • Paintings
  • Photographs
  • Film and television programs
  • Print and television advertisments
  • Music recordings

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III. Finding Primary Sources and Secondary Sources at the Potter Library

  • Catalog: use this to find books, journal titles NOT ARTICLES, government documents, reserve items, music,and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

Searching the Catalog for Primary Sources

  • Search the catalog using the Command Line/Boolean search option
  • This option lets you put terms in that will insure your results will be primary source material
    • For example: search for "world war II" and (interview or autobiography or diary) to locate primary sources on World War II
    • Using words like memiors, lettes, interviews, autobiographies, diaries, and correspondence will help to get the right materials
  • Use the Related Records tab on the top of a record to the linked subject headings for more material.

 

Searching the catalog for Secondary Source

  • Search the catalog using Keywords to find material.
  • For example: search for jazz age to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your project
  • Use the Related Records tab on the top of a record to the linked subject headings for more material.

 

      Tips

    1. Use Command Line/Boolean as your search option when looking for primary sources
    2. For secondary sources start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
    3. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Related Records tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
    4. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

IV. Reference Material

  • The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).
  • Some useful materials for your projects:
    • American Decades Primary Sources Ref E169.1 .A47 1997
    Documents of American History Ref E173.D59 1988
    Annals of America Ref E173.A793
    Ammerican Immigrant Culture Ref E184.A1.A63448
    Public Papers of the Presidents Ref J80.A232
    The State of the Union Messages of the President Ref J181.C66

Tips

  1. Use reference books to browse for project ideas and to get started on your research.
  2. Use the Bibliographies at the end of encyclopedia entries to find more information on your topic.

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V. Electronic Resources for Primary Sources

JSTOR Comprised of the full-text of more than 500 academic journals.
Historic Documents Published annually since 1972, the Historic Documents Series now contains 33 volumes of primary sources. Each volume includes approximately one hundred documents covering the most significant events of the year.
Historical NY Times full-text of the entire NY Times from 1851-2002.
Lexis-Nexis Searchable, full-text newspapers, legal documents and surveys and polls.
America History and Life  
America's Newspapers provides full-text articles from the electronic editions of record for more than 300 U.S. newspapers.

(Scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Refereed articles have been reviewed by a selected panel of experts in the discipline covered by that journal).

Tips

  1. Always switch to the Advance Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
  2. Always use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search. For Example: "christopher columbus"and (diary or journal) and "west indies"
  3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero.

VI. Interlibrary Loan

  • Journal Finder: this provides information regarding if a journal is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm.
  • Interlibrary Loan: allows studens to borrow a book or article that the Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.

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VII. What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources analyze, review, or restate information in primary resources. Most journal articles are secondary sources because they provide analysis, interpretation, or evaluation.

Some Examples of Secondary Sources

  • Dictionaries
  • Encyclopedias
  • Books that interpret or review research works
  • Articles that interpret or review research works

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VIII. Electronic Resources for finding Secondary Sources

  • All of the library's Databases have secondary sources in them
  • Below is a list of some you may what to try in addition to the others for this project:
America: History and Life History of United States and Canada from pre-history to the present. Links to JSTOR for full-text.  
Academic Search Premier Multidisciplinary database that contains a lot of full-text
Expanded Academic ASAP Multidisciplinary database with a lot of full-text

 

IX. Bibliographies

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Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

Use QandA NJ (under QUICK LINKS) a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian.