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PAID 112 Section 16 - Peterson (Spring 2025)

Luther College History

Getting Started with Primary Sources

Primary sources provide first-hand accounts of past events. They connect us to the views and perceptions of people who came before us.

Primary sources can come in several formats such as:

  • Newspaper articles
  • Personal journals and autobiographies
  • Interviews
  • Speeches
  • Photographs
  • Laws and statutes
  • Novels
  • Films and documentaries

Preus Library has access to several databases of different primary sources for your use. If you need assistance navigating these databases, contact your librarian for help. 

Search the Archives Catalog

Search the Luther College Archives catalog to find primary source materials relating to the history of Luther College, the Norwegian Synod, local church congregations, and more.

Visit Nordic: the Norwegian Digital Catalog

For more assistance with finding materials in the Archives, please contact us at archives@luther.edu or 563-387-1805.

Using Nordic

Nordic is a digital catalog that contains finding aids, special catalog records that describe archival collections.

  Finding aids will tell you these things about an archival collection:

  • Type of materials in a collection (papers, photographs, audio-visual items, artifacts)
  • Who created and/or donated the material and some biographical information about them
  • How old the material is
  • How many boxes are in a collection
  • A list of every folder inside each box in a collection

When searching Nordic, remember the following tips:

  • Use quotation marks! If you are searching for a specific phrase or name, use quotation marks so Nordic only brings back exact matches.
  • Check you spelling! Nordic will not catch any spelling errors the way Google might, so double-check your search terms.
  • Try lots of different search terms! If you cannot find any results using "cats" try "kitties" or "felines."
  • Ask the Archivist for help! She's happy to help you navigate the catalog and answer questions.

Online Primary Resources

These are digitized collections from the Luther College Archives and Winneshiek County Historical Society. They include publications (newspapers, magazines), a database, and photographs.

Published Primary Sources

Some primary sources have been published for broader access. Luther College has several published primary sources.

Your Librarian

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Hayley Jackson
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Contact:
310A Preus Library
(563) 387-1725

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