To identify books that are primary sources:
1) Look for books written by people who were involved in the event or activity you are researching. (Tip: When you look at secondary sources, write down the names of people and then look for them as authors.)
2) In the Moody Library Online catalog, books that have been assigned subjects with the subheadings in the list below might be primary sources. Not all books that include primary sources will include one of these words or phrases in a subject heading.
--Diaries
--Correspondence
--Biography
--Sources
--Anecdotes
--Personal narratives
--Interviews
Examples:
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Correspondence
Soldiers -- Alabama -- Diaries
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Sources
Sherman's March to the Sea -- Personal narratives.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.