By using a proper search strategy, the library catalog is an effective tool for lcoating books that are primary sources. WorldCat Local will search for items at the Pepperdine University Libraries and over 70,000 libraries worldwide.
Search by people who witnessed or participated in an event:
Nelson Mandela
Desmond Tutu
David Livingstone
Jomo Kenyatta
Anthony Eromosele Enahoro
Kwame Nkrumah
The Library of Congress assigns subject headings that are useful for restricting your search to primary sources:
correspondence
diaries
early works to 1800
interviews
pamphlets
personal narratives
sources
biography (An autobiography is a primary source.Check to see if the author's name also appears in the subject field.)
oral history
Please note: books with the phrase "documentary history" in the title often contain primary sources.
You can also restrict your search to books that were written at the time of the historical event to limit your results to primary sources.