old HIS 100 - Perspectives in History

Searching for Secondary Sources

For your project, you need to search for and select secondary sources. When you're looking for secondary sources, look for sources that add to the conversation on the topic you've chosen. If you're investigating the environmental impact of the atomic bomb, you'll want to look for secondary sources that touch on that topic. You might seek out scholarly articles or books that specifically address environmental concerns in relation to the atomic bomb, or include a significant section (i.e. a chapter) on that topic. 

Scholarly journal articles and books are great secondary sources to use for your research. The library has many databases that include scholarly articles and books on historical topics. We've suggested a few of the library's databases below that include secondary sources. Want more? Check out the the A-Z database list and use the limiters to look at all of Shapiro's historical databases. When using books for your research, remember: you don't have to use the entire book! Often one or two chapters are particularly useful.