The UT Tyler Libraries Catalog includes circulating books, reference books, books on microfilm and microfiche, state documents, and thousands of e-books.
If you're still not sure of a topic for your paper, look around in the stacks and see what books we have.
History books that can check out are on the third floor of the library. Most will fall in the D section:
D General World History, except American. Includes World Wars
DA Great Britain
DAW Central Europe
DB Austria, Leichtenstein, Hengary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic
DC France, Andorra, Monaco
DD Germany
DE Greco-Roman World
DF Greece
DG Italy, Malta
DH Low Countries, Benelux Countries
DJ Netherlands
DJK Eastern Europe (General)
DK Russia, Soviet Union, Former Soviet Republic, Poland
DL Northern Europe, Scandinavia
DP Spain, Portugal
DQ Switzerland
DR Balkan Peninsula
All books, whether in print or online, are assigned subject headings, usually by the Library of Congress. These subject headings are useful in identifying specific resources even when the title of the book may not be all that helpful. Sometimes, however, the subject heading might not be the one that immediately springs to mind. Here are a few hints:
France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799 (used instead of French Revolution)
Germany--History--Revolution, 1848-1849
Soviet Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921 (used instead of Russian Revolution)
World War, 1914-1918 (used instead of World War I)
World War, 1939-1945 (used instead of World War II)
Great Britain (includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland since 1707)
Soviet Union (used only for 1923-1991; before 1923 use Russia and after 1991 use Russia (Federation).
Germany (used until the end of World War II, followed by Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955: U.S. Zone, etc.); followed by Germany (West) and Germany (East), followed by Germany.
In general, for any country that may or may not exist independently today, look up the name it used for the period the book covers, such as Saxony (Germany) or Czechoslovakia.
If all else fails, do a keyword or title search in either the UT Tyler Library Catalog or in WorldCat, find at least one book on your topic, look at the bottom of the record to the subject headings, and click on those hotlinks to find other books on the same subject.
“A primary source is firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. The nature and value of a source cannot be determined without reference to the topic and questions it is meant to answer. The same document, or other piece of evidence, may be a primary source in one investigation and secondary in another. The search for primary sources does not, therefore, automatically include or exclude any category of records or documents.” (Yale University Library)
Primary sources may include diaries, letters, speeches, interviews, autobiographies, personal narratives, eyewitness accounts, memoirs, or government documents. They may be published or unpublished, printed or handwritten, on microfilm or fiche or online.
Start your search in the UT Tyler catalog with a subject or keyword subject, then enter one of the following words as a separate subject, then click on search.
Sources [will pull up collections of documents]
Diaries
Correspondence
Interviews
Personal narratives
You may also want to try for certain keywords in the title, usually the subtitle, such as "documentary history," "letters," or "papers." You will almost certainly get some false hits, but you can weed through them.