A secondary source is a work of historical interpretation or analysis of primary sources. Term papers, graduate theses, and books and articles by professional historians are all examples of secondary sources. A recent article about the Spanish Civil War or 20th-century feminism would be considered a secondary source, while a 1937 newspaper article covering the war or Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique would be considered a primary source.
Before using primary resources, you should consult secondary sources on your topic. It is important to have a good sense of the time period when the primary sources were created and a strong knowledge of your topic.
For instance, if your topic is the lives of Irish immigrants to Boston in the 1890s, you will need a basic understanding of world events and cultural trends surrounding and during that time period and a basic understanding of the history of Irish immigration and of Boston history. What was the make-up of Boston's population at the time? What were the conditions the immigrants left behind in Ireland? How were immigrants viewed? What were the issues of class, race, gender, and ethnicity? Without this background it would be difficult to evaluate the importance of a letter, report, or other document since you may not be able to place it in the context of the time period.
Reference sources such as specialized encyclopedias can help you identify a topic for your research, provide an overview of a specific issue, and suggest other materials that might be useful for your research. They can provide historical context, relevant dates, and the names of key individuals related to your topic. Always use the index if one is available and remember to follow the cross-references. For ideas on where to begin, ask at the Reference Desk or check out the Research Guides in History on the BC Libraries home page.
In order to search a library catalog effectively, it is helpful to have some knowledge of Library of Congress Subject Headings. LC Subject Headings (LCSH) are standardized terms developed by the Library of Congress to describe materials listed in library catalogs and to make it easier to arrange them by topic.
LCSH terms are not always the first terms that come to mind. For instance, the LC Subject Heading for the Salem witch trials is "Trials (Witchcraft) -- Massachusetts -- Salem," and for the World War II Holocaust is "Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)."
For more information on using LCSH, see the guide "Using Library of Congress Subject Headings for History Research".
See the guide "Finding History Book Reviews."
For your course assignments, your professors will typically want you to consult scholarly journals rather than popular periodicals. Scholarly journals are distinctive because their articles are usually
Even serious popular periodicals such as The Economist, National Geographic, or the New Yorker are not considered scholarly journals because they do not meet these criteria.
An index will allow you to look for article citations by subject, by author, or by a few keywords which describe your topic. Most indexes are available as databases, though you might need to use a print index to find older articles. History Indexes
America: History and Life
Historical Abstracts
This guide draws on guides developed at the University of Oregon (maintained by Heather Ward) and at Mt. Holyoke College.
Michelle Baildon
baildon@bc.edu
Created September 5, 2005
Last revised