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HIST 008: Introduction to Late European History

Finding Primary Sources in HoyaSearch

The library provides access to millions of scholarly resources through HoyaSearch. This includes many primary sources and collections of primary sources. To locate primary sources follow these important steps:

1. Create a Keyword List

Get to know your topic by explore information in reference databases like Credo Reference or read a book that provides a broad and general overview of the topic, for example, A Concise History of Italy.

Next, create a keyword list, which can include names of important events, documents, people, places, dates, and specialized vocabulary.

For example, if you are conducting research on the history of Fascism in Italy, some of the keywords you might add to a list include:

  • Fascismo Italiano
  • Giovanni Gentile
  • Benito Mussolini
  • National Fascist Party (PNF)
  • The Doctrine of Fascism (La dottrina del fascismo) - 1932
  • Blackshirts
  • March on Rome, 1922
  • Pact of Pacification
  • Prime Minister Luigi Facta
2. Search HoyaSearch using special search words to finding primary sources

Combine the keywords from this list with special keywords HoyaSearch recognizes for finding primary sources:

  • Sources
  • Documents
  • Personal narratives
  • Correspondence
  • Public Opinion
  • Caricatures and cartoons
  • Archives
3. Review the search results and select items that look promising

The search used in the example below is Italy Fascism Sources.

See below a screenshot of the details from the book: The Fascist revolution in Italy: a brief history with documents.

Note that the entry for this title from the results list includes our keywords, shows that Sources is listed as the genre - indicating primary sources, and the title uses the phrase a brief history with documents, which indicates a collection of documents or primary sources.