In order to use the library catalogs to find primary sources on a subject, you must first identify the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). LC Subject Headings are standardized terms developed by the Library of Congress to describe materials listed in catalogs. To determine the appropriate subject headings associated with your topic you can:
¥ Ask a librarian.
¥ Look in the four red volumes of the Library of Congress Subject Headings book located near the reference desk in most libraries.
¥ Look up the catalog record for a book that you already know about, display the record in long format and then do a subject search based on the subject headings listed.
You should know that the official subject heading assigned to a book is not necessarily a commonly-used term. For instance, the LCSH for the Vietnam War is NOT "Vietnam War" but rather "Vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975." Once you have identified the appropriate Library of Congress Subject Heading, you can pair that heading with specific subheadings that identify materials as primary sources. Some of the subheadings are:
- correspondence
- pamphlets
- diaries
- periodicals
- personal narratives
- interviews
- sources
You can add any of the subheadings listed above with a Library of Congress Subject Heading to specifically search for primary source material. For example:
¥ world war 1939-1945 england personal narratives¥ student movements japan history sources
¥ anarchism united states pamphlets
¥ france revolution correspondence
¥ soviet union history revolution 1917-1921 pamphlets
¥ women suffrage united states history sources
PILOT SEARCHING
Let's try a keyword search for world war in the PILOT online catalog.
Next, try a keyword search for world war II, compare the results with your first search.
Now, try a search for world war II, limiting your search to subject.
