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HIST 299: Spring 2023: Primary Sources

Finding print primary sources with OBIS & Summon

Many useful primary sources will be collected in print or ebook compilations, with several texts or images on a related topic collected in a single volume. The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages is an example of such a source. 

Subjects that are useful for finding primary sources in OBIS and Summon:

  • Sources
  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Interviews
  • Pictoral Works
  • Maps
  • Early Works to 1800
  • Medieval
  • Centuries (e.g. 11th century)
  • Exhibition

Summon indexes the full text of some (but not all) of our print sources. Therefore it can be useful to combine a subject search for subject headings associated with primary sources with a keyword search for more specific concepts. The proximity search can help ensure that multiple concepts are addressed in the same text inside a collection. 

To find books where the word city and the word food appear within 100 words of each other, you would use the following search in Summon:

  • "city food"~100 

Primary Source Search Tips in Full-Text Digital Collections

  • Find the language that would have been used to describe a concept at the time
  • Check background and secondary sources for quotes
  • As you find primary sources, read them closely for word choice and language use
  • Check the Google Books Ngram Viewer for prevalence of different terms over time 

Multi-region Full Text and Image Search Tools

Digital Collections - Asia

Digital Collections - Americas

Digital Colletions - Europe

Digital Collections - Middle East & North Africa