Skip to Main Content

GU-Q: HIST 311-70: Africa and the Politico-Economics of Independence

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 and 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 Democratic Republic of Congo, the economics of the Resource Curse, and the First Congo War, some of the keywords you might add to a list include:

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • DRC
  • Zaire
  • Mobutu Sese Seko
  • Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk)
  • Diamonds
  • Coltan
  • Resource Curse
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 DRC Seku Sources

Primary Sources - Guide Video Version