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Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are materials written by historians using primary sources (such as government reports, newspaper articles, memoirs, etc.) Examples of secondary sources include:

  • books, including required texts
  • journal articles
  • encyclopedia articles

See the boxes below for resources to help you find different types of secondary sources: Required Texts, Books and More, Journal Articles, and Encyclopedias.

Required Texts (Brosnan, Fall 2017)

Books and More

Journal Articles

Use databases like these to find journal articles (and sometimes books and more).

Dr. Brosnan selected these journals as particularly relevant to her American West class.
Some are online and some are only in paper.

Encyclopedias

Do NOT use encyclopedias as your only source. DO use encyclopedias as a starting point for background information and sources for further reading. Some of these titles are online (click on title); others are only in print in Bizzell.