These strategies can be used in the library catalog, Williams WorldCat, and HathiTrust Digital Library.
Memoirs, speeches, writings, or correspondence of a person can be found by doing an author search in using the name (last name first) of the person.
Usually, library catalog records have at least one subject heading describing the general topic of the book, video, or other material. Subject headings can be subdivided to indicate further topical breakdown, geographical location, time period, or the form of the composition. Some of the subdivisions that indicate the item is a primary source include:
Personal narratives: first person accounts
Sources: collections of contemporary writings
Case Studies
Description and Travel: includes travelers' accounts
Using the Advanced Search you can combine your topic with the subdivisions mentioned above. Choose to search in the subject field to make the searches more precise.
To search by title, you need to have a known title in mind. Footnotes and bibliographies can help identify relevant titles.