Secondary Sources: Definition
Secondary sources are materials written by historians using primary sources (such as newspaper articles, government reports, books, etc. from the time period being studied). Examples of secondary sources include: books, journal articles, reference materials.
Books
- Local CatalogBooks and other materials owned by the University of Oklahoma libraries. For example, click here for a list of materials about the Mexican revolution. (Please note that the catalog also contains primary sources.)
- Worldcat (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.
Reference Materials / Background Information
- Cambridge History of Latin AmericaCambridge Histories, begun in 1902, offers a broad perspective on subjects.
- Modern Latin America, 8th Edition Companion WebsiteIncludes a timeline, lists of heads of state, essays, and primary sources.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineA research guide to the most significant sources in the subject area. Click "browse by subject" to see Latin American Studies.
News
Select Multi-Country Sources (also see this guide)
- Factiva Academic Edition (~1970s-present; Dow Jones)U.S. and world newspapers and business and company information. NOTE: Some newspapers are not available in the academic version of Factiva.
Latin America
- America's Quarterly (2007-present)A publication dedicated to politics, business, and culture in the Americas.
- BBC Monitoring, AmericasTranslated news.
- El Caribe Digital Archive (1956-present; Eastview/CRL)Spanish-language daily newspaper published in the Dominican Republic. A chronicle of national and international news, both for the Dominican Republic and the broader Caribbean region.
- Latin American Weekly Report (In English)Behind-the-scenes briefing on all the week’s key developments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Journal Articles (mostly!)
- Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)Multidisciplinary database. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, major newspaper articles, book reviews, and more.
- Art Index (Ebsco)Traditional art, art history, archaeology, architecture, fashion design, interior design, visual art, folk art, film, and non-western art. References to or full text of journal articles, yearbooks, and museum bulletins.
- ATLA Religion Database (Ebsco)Biblical studies, world religions, church history, etc. References to or full text of journal articles, essays, book reviews.
- Communication Source (Ebsco)Communication, linguistics, rhetoric and discourse, speech-language pathology, media studies. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, and book reviews.
- Film and Television Literature Index (Ebsco)Coverage includes film and television theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and more. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, trade publications, books, and reviews. See this page for information on finding film reviews.
- Google ScholarSearch for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Note: You will need to use the "Library Links" feature to indicate that you are affiliated with OU: Click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left-hand corner > Choose "Settings" at the bottom of the list > Choose "Library Links" from the list > In the search bar, type "University of Oklahoma" > Check the boxes next to both University of Oklahoma Libraries entries (Open Worldcat is selected by default and can remain checked)> Save your settings. - Handbook of Latin American Studies (Library of Congress)Multidisciplinary coverage of Latin America. References to journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference papers in Spanish and English. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database; you must search the Local Catalog for the title of the journal to see if we own it.
- HAPI, the Hispanic American Periodicals Index (Latin American Institute, UCLA)Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx communities in the United States. References to or full text of journal articles.
- Historical Abstracts (Ebsco)World history (except the U.S. and Canada), 1450 to the present. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc.
- JSTORIncludes the full text and complete archives of core scholarly journals in many disciplines, some dating from the 1600s. Current issues may not be available.
- MLA International Bibliography (Ebsco)Literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (Ebsco)Traditional music, popular music, classical music and related subjects. References to or full text of journal articles, books, reviews, conference papers, dissertations, and more.