AIS370/HSTAA315: Researching Indians' History - spr 2014: Primary Sources: Books

One way to get a glimpse of the past is to read what people read, to see what people saw. In other words, to use primary sources -- evidence left by the past.  There are many kinds of primary sources including texts (letters, diaries, government reports, books, newspaper accounts, novels, autobiographies), images (photographs, paintings, advertisements, posters), artifacts (buildings, clothing, sculpture, coins) and audio/visual (songs, oral history interviews, films).

One of the more easily accessible primary sources are books. The UW Libraries has a fairly good collection of books published in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as digital access to books going back to the late 15th century. In addition primary sources such as collection of letters or a diary may later (even a century or more later) be published in book format. 

Keep in mind the most published primary sources dealing with Native American history especially prior to the mid-20th century are coming from non-natives be they missionaries, government officials, anthropologists and others. You will need to be aware of, and take into consideration, inherent biases of documents created by these people.

UW Worldcat and other tools can be used to find these primary sources which may be available in print, online and in microfilm. 

This page focuses on finding primary sources in book format. Use the resources listed under the other Primary Source tabs to find other types of material.

Image: The book, When Dewey came to Manila: or, Among the Filipinos was originally published in 1899.

Advanced Search | UW Libraries Search

One of the best ways to find a primary source at the UW Libraries is to search UW Worldcat for the title of a published work (book, magazine, newspaper, etc.) that you've identified in the bibliography or footnotes of your secondary sources.

You can also try these search tactics to identify published primary sources (in book form) via the UW Worldcat:

• Keep in mind that when searching for books dealing with Native Americans that the official term used is "indians of north america." You can also search by tribe ("tulalip indians," "apache indians," etc.)
  
  
• Use special subject terms that designate primary sources in conjunction with your topic. Using the prefix su: ensures that these terms are present in the subject heading. 
  
• su:"personal narratives"
• su:diaries
• su:correspondence
• su:sources
• Example: "indians of north america" and su:correspondence
  
  
• Search for books written by key participants and organizations. For example: au:"dover harriette" 
  
  
• Limit your search by publication year. Use the tool bar on the left and choose a year under "Refine your Search"

Getting non-books? Use the toolbar on the left and choose the format "Book."

If you are looking for books published before 1924, check HathiTrust. More than million books (also some magazines and government reports) free of copyright are available full-text and can be downloaded as pdfs. Plus you can search through the entire text to find the information you seek. 

The Advanced Catalog Search provides options to search for specific titles, authors and keywords and to limit your search by fulltext availability (full view only) and publication date.

Current books and books still in copyright are not available full-text but you can usually use the search feature to pinpoint the pages you might need. Then search the UW Libraries to find a copy of the printed book.