Secondary Sources
SECONDARY SOURCES DEFINED
Secondary sources build off of primary sources with more extensive and in-depth analysis. They summarize, evaluate, and analytically interpret primary material, often by offering a personal perspective. While these are useful to check what other experts in the field have to say, they are not evidence. It is one step removed from the original or primary source. Because secondary sources are published works, they will list their sources of information which can be used to located additional information for your research.
Use secondary sources to see what others have discussed. You can also use secondary sources to explore what subtopics have already been explored on a given topic.
EXAMPLES
General examples: Textbooks, monographs (books), analysis, review articles, dissertations, thesis,
History: Article analyzing Queen Elizabeth I's speech; book recounting battle history of World War II; biographies
Literature: Literary critiques such as an article that examines Cervantes' writing style; paper discussing motifs in The Metamorphosis
Art: Lecture given about Michelangelo's techniques; Criticism or review of Picasso's painting
Social Sciences: News commentaries; Article analyzing results of mental illness study; book that discusses population trends over time; evaluations of social and government policy, law and legislation.
Natural Sciences: Review articles that evaluates the theories and works of others; article on the environmental impact of pollution
Repplinger, John. "Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources:." Willamette University, 5 Apr. 2019,
libguides.willamette.edu/primary-sources. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.
How to Search JSTOR
At the end of the video it gives you a phone number to contact. DON'T use the phone number in the video. If you have any questions contact the SFCC Library at 509-533-3834.
Online Searching
- GoogleOf course you should use Google! Remember to use strategic online searching, such as using the domain name to target specific content. See the box to the right about "Searching by Domain" to narrow your searches to government, non-profit, or educational websites.
- Google Scholar"Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites." - Google
- Google Scholar HandoutClick here for details on using and navigating Google Scholar effectively
Can't Find an Item You Want?
If you find an article in Google Scholar that does not seem to be available online catalog, the SFCC Library can get it for you! Just submit an online interlibrary loan request.
Keep in mind that it may take ten days to two weeks for print materials to arrive. Articles will be primarily emailed and typically take up to 24-72 hours to arrive.
History Article Databases
GENERAL DATABASES
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive scholarly database with more than 7,000, full text, peer reviewed journals. Also contains magazine articles, trade publications, news items and multimedia resources. - Facts on File History Databases This link opens in a new windowSearch engine for all four Facts on File history databases.
- History Reference Center This link opens in a new windowDatabase providing full-text access to more than 150 history periodicals and nearly 2000 reference works, encyclopedias, and other full-text books.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Database of full-text academic journals, mostly older issues, from a variety of subject areas. Goes back hundreds of years. - ProQuest This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Database of articles from magazines, newspapers, trade publications and scholarly journals.
Searching by Domain
When searching online you can narrow your search by specifying the domain. The domain is the part of the url address that specifics who is creating the website. Some of the most commonly used domains are below.
When researching your topics try specifying the website domain. For example, a search for LGBTQ AND law site:.gov will only bring results from government websites. If you search for LGBTQ AND civil rights site:.org will mostly get results from non-profit organizations.
Remember to be strategic with you research and use the "Evaluation" tab on this guide to evaluate the sources you find online.
http://www.seopearl.com/internet-web-technologies/module4/domainName-service-structure.php
Web Resources
Library of Congress: Country Profiles
Short brief summaries of historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. Update the more in-depth Country Studies series.
Good resources for history but beware most of these books were written in the 1990's. Colombia & Cuba were revised in 2002 but Chile, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay are older.
Internet Resources - Latin American History
A large collection of miscellaneous country web sites.
Latin American History Links. Faculty Oberline College & Latin American History Timeline
Last updated 2007
Maps by region illustrating history of the region.