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Personal Journals, Letters, and Memoirs
One category of primary sources are those written by individuals at the time, describing events during their lives. These include memoirs, journals, diaries, letters, and so on.
Most catalogs (such as our catalog, Brown's JOSIAH catalog, and WorldCat) use standardized terms to describe these kinds of materials, making it easier for researchers to locate them.
Below are terms used and some example searches. To find your own: Use the Advanced Search in the catalog and combine these terms with your topics. For example, civil war and personal narratives. You can edit the searches below to reflect your own interests by replacing the provided search terms with your own.
- Sample Catalog search for correspondence and women"Correspondence" is used to describe compilations of letters. This example limits the search to the correspondence of women.
- Sample Catalog search for diaries and slave*"Diaries" is the term used for diaries and journals. This sample search lists diaries related to slaves and also slaveholders. The * at the end of slave tells the catalog to locate all forms of the word.
- Sample Catalog search for personal narratives and medic*"Personal narratives" is another term used for diaries and oral histories. This sample search links to diaries and other personal narratives from individuals involved in medicine or medical care.
- Sample Catalog subject search for sources and Japan"Sources" is used for a wide array of primary source material. This sample search links to primary sources about Japan. Because sources is a vague term, it is helpful to specify a subject search.