Links to the online materials we had available on the laptops during class on March 28:
Marcus Sedgwick, Saint Death
Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea
Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King
Access to books and other materials available from libraries:
Start with our catalog at GILFind.
If GSU's library doesn't have what you need, you have, don't give up. There are several options to get the book you want:
Universal Catalog - includes all Georgia public colleges and universities. The Universal Catalog is now included in GIL -- just select "University System of Georgia" in the dropdown next to the search box!) To see information about participating USG schools, click here. Request books through GIL Express (see above), or use your Panther Card to check out books at USG schools.
Emory - you can also borrow materials at Emory with your Panther Card
ARCHE - with a special ARCHE borrower's card, you can check out books from several local private colleges. Click here for information about ARCHE schools and getting a borrower's card
Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library Catalog - GSU students & faculty may obtain library cards from the Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library, then borrow materials.
Use Interlibrary Loan to request books you find in the following catalogs
(or any other library catalog):
Still stuck? Get more information, or ask a librarian for help.
When we work with primary sources, we may encounter language and concepts that are uncomfortable and/or considered now to be offensive.
History can be very ugly.
It is important that we understand that these words and concepts are part of history.
It is also important that we understand the potential of these words and concepts to be upsetting or offensive today.
Please be mindful of how you use this language, and be respectful when using it.
Primary sources are the raw materials that historians consult when they are doing research. They are the documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation.
Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art) but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories).
Almost anything can be a historical primary source! You may find primary sources in their original format (usually in an archive) or reproduced in a variety of ways: books, microfilm, digital, etc.
Because they are created or used during a particular historical moment (or intended to recall a particular time, as in an oral history or a memoir), primary sources can also powerfully evoke a particular era, event, person, or place.
Finding historical primary sources can be like looking for a needle in a haystack -- or like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. Historical primary sources can be freely available online, but there are other resources available to you as GSU students for finding relevant and thought-provoking historical materials:
Secondary sources: scholarly books and articles on or related to your topic. For academic honesty purposes, every history scholar who publishes a scholarly article or book has to cite the secondary and primary sources they used. This means that you can look at their citations to find primary sources related to your topic. Look for footnotes, endnotes, and/or a bibliography or works cited list. For more help with this strategy, see the Mining Footnotes guide. (For help on finding history books and articles likely to point you to helpful footnotes, see the general History research guide!)
Library catalog (GILFind): you can use the library catalog to find print (autobiographies or other books written at a particular historical moment), audiovisual, and even some Special Collections materials.
Subscription databases: We have selected primary-source databases available to you through the GSU Library. These are generally only available to GSU students/faculty/staff, and you will not have access to these once you graduate (sadly). These can be accessed from anywhere using your Campus ID and password. Most of our historical primary-source databases are listed here. For a full list of all of the subscription databases held at the GSU Library, click here.
Archival collections: The GSU Library's Special Collections & Archives has a range of primary source materials that you can arrange to come look at. For information about our Special Collections' areas of specialization, click here. Some (but by no means all) of their materials are available at Digital Collections. Some (but again not all) of Special Collections' finding aids (detailed descriptions of particular collections) are available online. For more information about other Special Collections/archives in the Atlanta area, see our Archival Research guide.
