PittCat is the main searching tool for all of the materials owned by the University Library System (ULS), including articles, books, ebooks, journal articles, ejournals, audio and video, digital images, government documents, microfilm and movies.

Library Catalogs

• Search PittCat to find primary source materials at ULS libraries.

• Search WorldCat to find collections at thousands of libraries worldwide. Use the Advanced Search feature to limit by format or publication date.

Finding Aids

A finding aid is "a description of records that gives the repository physical and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials." Source: Richard Pearce-Moses. Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: The Society of American Archivists, 2005.

Use finding aids to locate processed archival collections in archives, libraries, and museums. Finding aids are increasingly available online and freely accessible.

• See Pitt's Archives and Special Collections.
• For more on how to read a finding aid, look at A Guide to Primary Sources at the Archives Service Center: Reading a Finding Aid.

Reference & Other Print Sources

Make use of the many excellent print resources that are available to find primary source materials.  These include:

• Bibliographies
• Film, Literature, and Periodical Indexes
• Biographical Resources
• Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks
• Secondary Sources (search the text, footnotes, and bibliographies for references to primary sources used)

Internet Search Engines

• Use the Internet to find primary source materials by adding primary source specific terms (box below) to a Search Engine search. For example, "Civil War + Pennsylvania soldiers + diaries."

Adding primary source-related keywords to your PittCat search will help you to more easily locate primary source materials. For example, if you need primary sources on the American Civil War, search the phrase "United States Civil War" with the keyword "diary" (i.e., "United States Civil War" diary). Other keywords that can be used to locate primary sources are:

• sources
• archives
• correspondence
• interviews
• notebooks
• personal narratives
• speeches
• writings
• fiction
• reports
• pictorial works
• songs and music
• cases
• case study