LibGuides: American West: Secondary Sources

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)

City Dreams, Country Schemes by Kathleen A. Brosnan (Ed.); Amy L. Scott (Ed.)
Call Number: F 591 .C54 2011 (On Reserve in Bizzell)
On the Borders of Love and Power: Families and Kinship in the Intercultural American Southwest by David Wallace Adams and Crista DeLuzio
Call Number: E 78 .W5 O54 2012 (Main Floor, East)
The Oxford History of the American West by Clyde A. Milner (Ed.); Carol A. O'Connor (Ed.); Martha A. Sandweiss (Ed.)
Call Number: F 591 .O95 1994 (On Reserve in Bizzell)
A Sense of the American West by James E. Sherow (Ed.)
Call Number: GE 155 .W47 S46 1998 (On Reserve in Bizzell)

Books and More

Discover Local (Catalog)
Materials owned by the University of Oklahoma libraries.
Worldcat
Materials held by libraries around the world. You may borrow (interlibrary loan) materials through the Worldcat database. Interlibrary loan is free! But give yourself time for a book to come through the mail.
Forest History Society Bibliography
Books, articles, and more.

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OU Link to Article does not work in this database. You must search the catalog for the title of the journal or book to see if we own it
Dissertation Abstracts (aka ProQuest Dissertations & Theses)
Most dissertations have great bibliographies. Many dissertations 1997 to 2010s, are full text.

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PLEASE NOTE: Many universities have started archiving dissertations locally rather than through this database. Try a Google search on the topic or author to see if you can locate the dissertation.
Find most OU dissertations full text through summer 2013; after that date, find OU dissertations in SHAREOK.

Journal Articles

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

America: History and Life
Database covering the U.S. and Canada, prehistory to the present.

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NOTE: The library has licensed this database for 6 simultaneous users. Please click the "University of Oklahoma Libraries" icon in the upper right to logoff when you are finished searching.
Bibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA)
Database covering Native North American history, life, and culture.
GreenFILE
Database to search for scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports, related to the the positive and negative ways humans affect the environment.
JSTOR
Database covering all subject areas. Includes all or part of several of the journals listed below: Western Historical Quarterly, Environmental History Review, Great Plains Quarterly, Pacific Historical Review, American Indian Quarterly, California History, Montana, the Magazine of Western History, and Ethnohistory.

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

Chronicles of Oklahoma
Journal published by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
-1923-1962 available here
-1963-present only in paper, Bizzell Memorial Library, first floor, call number: F 691 .C55. Article titles and summaries listed here.
Western Historical Quarterly
A scholarly journal. 1970-present.
Environmental History
A scholarly journal. 1996-present.
Environmental History Review
A scholarly journal; the predecessor to Environmental History. 1990-1995.
Great Plains Quarterly
A scholarly journal.
-1981-2013 available here
-2011-present only in paper, Western History Collections, call number: F 591 .G762. Article titles and summaries listed here.
Journal of the West
A scholarly journal.
-1962-present only in paper, Western History Collections, call number: F 591 .J65. Article titles and summaries listed here.
Pacific Historical Review
A scholarly journal.
-2001-present
-1932-four years ago
New Mexico Historical Review
A scholarly journal. 1932-present.
American Indian Quarterly
A scholarly journal.
-1974-2008 available here
-2000-present available here
California History
A scholarly journal.
-2001-present
Montana, the Magazine of Western History
Journal published by the Montana Historical Society.
-1951-2015 available here
Ethnohistory
A scholarly journal.
-1954-1999 available here
-2000-present available here

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.

American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia
Online and in print, main floor, east, call number E 98 .R3 C755 2005 v.1-3.
"Topics covered include key ideas and issues, religious and political leaders, primary ceremonies, mythic figures, and related cultural subjects." (-publisher)

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Make sure you are logged in to the library's website with your OU Net ID before accessing this source online.
Encyclopedia of American Environmental History
In print only, Bizzell Reference Collection, call number GE 150 .E53 2011.
Edited by Professor Brosnan, this work includes more than 750 articles covering every significant issue, event, law, and figure in U.S. environmental history.
Encyclopedia of Environment and Society
Online. Includes more than 1,000 entries on "key individuals, polices, problems, processes, and theoretical concepts that sit astride what has traditionally been known as 'society' and the 'environment.'” (-introduction)
Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West
Online and in print, Bizzell Reference Collection, call number HB 1965 .E53 2006 v.1-2.
"Through sweeping entries, focused biographies, community histories, economic enterprise analysis, and demographic studies, this Encyclopedia presents the tapestry of the West and its population during various periods of migration." (-publisher)
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
Online, from the Oklahoma Historical Society. (This links directly to the encyclopedia essays on the environment.)
Encyclopedia of United States Indian Policy and Law
Online and in print, Bizzell, 3rd floor west, call number KF 8205 .E49 2009 v.1-2.
This "work examines the history and impact of U.S. relations with Native Americans." (-publisher)
Encyclopedia of Women in the American West
In print only, Bizzell, 2nd floor east, call number HQ 1438 .W45 E53 2003.
"...captures the lives of more than 150 women who made their mark from the mid-1800s to the present, contextualizing their experiences and contributions to American society." (-publisher)
New Encyclopedia of the American West
In print only, Bizzell Reference Collection, call number F 591 .N46 1998.
The encyclopedia consists of more than 2,400 entries "is a rich source of information about these many American West, real and imaginary, old and new, stretching from coast to coast and throughout the country’s history and culture." (-publisher)

American West

History Librarian

Additional Information

Secondary Sources

Required Texts (Brosnan, Fall 2017)

Books and More

Journal Articles

Encyclopedias