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 byCall Number: F 591 .C54 2011 (Main floor, East) and Online
- On the Borders of Love and Power: Families and Kinship in the Intercultural American Southwest byCall Number: E 78 .W5 O54 2012 (Main Floor, East) and Online
- The Oxford History of the American West byCall Number: F 591 .O95 1994 (On Reserve in Bizzell) and OnlineA free Internet Archive account is required to borrow or reserve this ebook. Limited simultaneous users allowed.
- A Sense of the American West byCall Number: GE 155 .W47 S46 1998 (Main floor, East)
Books and More
- Forest History Society DatabaseBooks, articles, and more. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database. You must search the catalog for the title of the journal or book to see if we own it
- Local CatalogMaterials owned or subscribed to by the University of Oklahoma libraries.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (was Dissertation Abstracts)Can be helpful for obscure topics. Look at the bibliographies! Mainly doctoral dissertations, with most being full text. Note that 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.
- Worldcat (Firstsearch/OCLC)Books and other 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.
Journal Articles
Use databases like these to find journal articles (and sometimes books and more).
- America: History and Life (Ebsco)U.S. and Canadian topics, prehistory to the present. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc.
- Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (Ebsco)Formerly Bibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA). Native North American history, life, and culture. References to or full text of journal articles, books, essays, conference papers, dissertations, U.S. government documents.
- GreenFILE (Ebsco)All aspects of human impact to the environment. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, book reviews, and reports.
- JSTORDatabase 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.
Some are online and some are only in paper.
- Chronicles of Oklahoma1921-2019
To see article titles and summaries after that date see this search in the America: History and Life Database. Recent issues in paper on 4th floor, west at call number F 691 .C55. - Environmental History ReviewThe predecessor to Environmental History.
- Journal of the WestIn paper, Western History Collections and storage, call number: F 591 .J65. Article titles and summaries listed here.
- Montana, the Magazine of Western HistoryMost recent issues only in paper at the Western History Collections, call number: F 726 .M74. Article titles and summaries listed 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 EncyclopediaOnline 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) - Encyclopedia of American Environmental HistoryIn 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 SocietyOnline. 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 WestOnline 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 CultureOnline, from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
- Encyclopedia of United States Indian Policy and LawOnline 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 WestIn 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 WestOnline: Free access via Open Library. A free Internet Archive account is required to borrow or reserve this ebook. Limited simultaneous users allowed.
Print: 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)
Additional Information
- In depth guide to finding primary sources at OU.
- In depth guide to finding secondary sources at OU.
- All history research guides.
- Western History Collections
- Interlibrary Loan
- Government Documents Department
- Learning to do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others (from Wisconsin)