The BVU Catalog can provide access to many materials that may be considered primary resources. Look for these words used in the book description to identify if the book is a primary, secondary or tertiary source.
| Primary Sources | Secondary Sources | Tertiary Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Autobiography | Biography | Encyclopedias |
| Correspondence or Letters | Analysis | Almanacs |
| Speeches | Dissertation | Chronologies |
| Diaries | Timeline | |
| Interviews | Dictionary | |
| Archives | ||
| Personal narratives |
These same words can be used to identify primary sources that exist OUTSIDE the BVU Library Collection. To see what books have been published on your topic that are owned by other libraries, check the BVU Library catalog, and change the "Held by Library" option to "Libraries Worldwide." Items you identify here can often by obtained through interlibrary loan.
Our catalog has the ability to show BVU-owned resources, OR you can toggle to the setting that will search the holdings of ALL libraries worldwide. The two options are shown in the red rectangle above. If local options seem thin on your topic, you can always expand your search to look at the collections of other libraries. A link to request an item through interlibrary loan is located in the "Access Options" window, found on the upper right corner of the screen of the full item description.