This guide is designed to help researchers locate historical documents, books, and scholarly journal articles related to the history of indigenous peoples of North America. Many of the electronic resources included here are licensed for the use of WVU students and faculty. Access from off-campus locations requires your WVU username and password.
Most research projects in the field of history require students to locate a variety of both primary and secondary sources. These are defined as:
Secondary Sources - "texts - such as books, articles, or documentary films - that are written or created by people who were not eyewitnesses to the events or period in question; instead, the authors of secondary sources synthesize, analyze, and interpret primary sources..."(Rampolla, 2012).
Primary Sources - "are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic under consideration, either as participants or as witnesses...Some primary sources are written documents, such as letters; diaries; newspapers and magazine articles; speeches; autobiographies; treatises; census data; and marriage, birth, and death registers" (Rampolla, 2012).
Create a list of keywords to use in your searches - People, Places, Events, Dates, etc. Use these keywords in different combinations to find relevant documents.
For primary sources, think about search terms that are contemporary to your topic. Also consider differences in spelling and terminology when searching.
Use Advanced Search options or Boolean Operators to narrow your search results.
Examples of Boolean Search Logic:
<https://sites.google.com/a/onalaskaschools.com/tech/boolean-search-tools>
Encyclopedias are a good place to start to gather background information and keywords for a topic area. Use entries in the resources below to come up with terms and phrases to use in your primary and secondary source searching. Pay special attention to any keywords that are contemporary to your time period, but may not be common today. These terms can be useful when searching for primary sources.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4408-9599