LIBRARY
ENG 122: Research Assignment: Primary Sources
What is a Primary Source?
"A document or record containing first-hand information or original data on a topic..." (The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science)
Examples:
- Newspaper and magazine clippings
- Diaries, letters, journals, interviews
- Speeches, autobiographies
- Original hand-written manuscripts
- Art, photos, films, music
- Original research, data, or findings
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Newspapers Articles
Follow these steps to locate newspaper articles in the Nexis Uni database:
Click on this link: Nexis Uni
Log in with your user name (firstname.lastname) and password (same as SLU email).
In the first search box, enter the name of the topic you want to search for.
In the Sources Box, type in the name of a newspaper you want to search in, for example, The New York Times or the Tampa Bay Times.
Use the drop-down menu arrow to select the date range if you so choose.
Click on the orange "Search" button and view your results.
Nexis Uni Search Hints:
Using Search Connectors and Search Segments
Using Term Connectors
Search connectors, such as AND, OR , and AND NOT define whether the search terms should appear in the resulting document or not.
To view the full list of Search Term Connectors, click Search Term Connectors.
Using Proximity Connectors
Connectors such as w/n, pre/n, near, and atleast, help narrow a search by defining relationships between your search terms.
To view the full list of Search Proximity Connectors, click Proximity Connectors.
Using Search Fields (Segments)
You can restrict your search to a specific part or segment of a document, such as the court that heard the case or the judge who wrote the opinion. Different types of documents have different segments. For instance, a case doesn't have the same segments as a newspaper article.
To view the full list of Search Fields (or segments), click List of Searchable Fields (Segments).
Using Wildcard Characters
Wildcard characters ( ? ! *) help you find variant spellings of words.
To view the list of wildcard characters, click Search Connector Wildcards.