Finding Primary Sources at UBC
UBC's Library, Archives, and Rare Books & Special Collections (RBSC) are each separate institutions. RBSC Archives holds archival materials collected by UBC, while the UBC Archives holds material created by UBC departments and professors. You will have to search each institution separately to find all the primary source materials held at UBC.
UBC Library
In the UBC Library Catalogue, try combining your topic keywords with one of these terms.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For Example: "Residential schools" AND Autobiograph?
Search Tip: Use quotation marks to search for a phrase (e.g. "First Nations"). Use a question mark to truncate a term to search for words with the same stem (e.g. Biograph? retrieves Biography, Biographies, Biographical, etc.).
UBC Archives
UBC Archives has put together a guide to finding First Nations Historical Resources in the UBC Archives. Note that further searching within finding aids may be necessary to locate this material.
UBC Rare Books & Special Collections
The best way to search for this material is to use Rare Books & Special Collections database search. RBSC's search does not use phrase (e.g. "residential school") or truncated (e.g. residential school?) searching. Try a simple keyword search (e.g. Residential school).
Conducting Research at RBSC
Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) staff are available to assist researchers in locating archival or published material, to advise on research questions and to carry out copying requests. To contact a RBSC staff member, please see our directory.
If you are not able to come to RBSC yourself, you may wish to hire an independent consultant to conduct research on your behalf. The following links are intended to help you locate a researcher. (Please be aware that RBSC cannot guarantee the work of the service providers listed here.)
Independent research consultants
- BC Archives – Independent Service Agent Register Listing of researchers located in Victoria and the Lower Mainland area along with notes about their subject specialties.
- VPL – InfoAction Fee-based division of Vancouver Public Library that “provides research on any subject.”
- Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: Alphabetical Index of Professional and Volunteer Research Services A long list of links to researchers, mainly genealogists, some in Canada/BC but most throughout the US and England.
Indigenous Citation and Style Guides
Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples [e-book] by ISBN: 9781550597196Publication Date: 2018Also available from Xwi7xwa Library in print format.
So You Want to Write about American Indians? by Call Number: AWA A22 M54 2005ISBN: 9780803282988Publication Date: 2005-04-01Also available from UBC Library as an e-book.- Understanding Peoples on Their Own Terms: A Rationale and Proposal for an Aboriginal Style Guide [thesis] byCall Number: PC Y68 U53 1999Publication Date: 1999
Citing Elders & Knowledge Keepers
Introduction
The official MLA and APA citation style guides do not have guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
NorQuest College has developed the following templates for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers (CC BY-NC 4.0) in the spirit of wahkôhtowin and reconciliation, and we thank them for sharing their template.
For information on the development of these templates and how to use them in practice, please see:
Lorisia MacLeod. "More Than Personal Communication: Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers." KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135
APA Style
Unlike other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers should be cited in-text and in the References list.
In-text citation:
The in-text citation should follow APA guidelines for formatting in-text citations for paraphrasing and direct quotes. Include the Elder or Knowledge Keeper's last name and the year of communication. For example:
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the... (2004).
OR
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal, 2004).
Corresponding References list entry format:
Last name, First initial., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.
For example: Cardinal, D., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. personal communication. April 4, 2004.
MLA Style
Unlike most other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers should be cited in-text and in the Works Cited list.
In-text:
The in-text citation should follow MLA guidelines for formatting in-text citations for paraphrasing and direct quotes. Include the Elder or Knowledge Keeper's last name. For example:
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the...
OR
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal).
Corresponding Works Cited list entry:
Last name, First name., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. City/Community they live in if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Date Month Year.
For Example: Cardinal, Delores., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. 4 April 2004.
Note: If you would like to approach an Elder or Knowledge Keeper for teachings, remember to follow protocol or if you are unsure what their protocol is, please ask them ahead of time.
Chicago Manual of Style
Work is underway to develop guidelines for citing Elders and Knowledge Keepers with Chicago Manual of Style. Please check back for updates.
For more information on how to cite Indigenous sources, please refer to the following guides:
- Indigenous Citation Guide
- Indigenous Research Methodologies
- Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers
- APA Citation Style Guide: Indigenous Knowledge Keepers
For additional citation guidance, please refer to the following guides: