ImagesOUTSIDE THE U OF M
History Day in Minnesota
What are THEY?
Secondary sources usually
- analyze or interpret an event
- are one step removed from the focus or main event
- offer an outside perspective by someone not present during the event
- are published as scholarly articles or books
- are based on some examination of primary sources
- list references to primary sources or at least mention personal names,
document titles and other information that help you identify primary sources
- They are often published in books (listed in catalogs) or in articles (listed in indexes or other databases).
- Generally, books are listed in catalogs, while articles are listed in indexes. A few indexes are listed below. For a very helpful Web site with good examples of types of sources, visit Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources ( James Cook University)
LIBRARY BOOK CATALOGS
Search for Books using Catalogs
MNCAT, the U of M Libraries Catalog
The catalog can be used to find books written by scholars on historical topics. You can use the catalog to find secondary sources on your subject. If you haven't chosen an individual to research, use the subject keyword BIOGRAPHY in combination with your topic keywords, for example, inventions, medicine, leader, etc.
Once you have identified a person to research, find secondary sources by entering that person's NAME as a subject keyword.
Catalogs to Materials in Other Libraries are listed on the BooksAndMore page.
A word about bookseller sites like Amazon, etc.: you can use them to get some information about the book but using a catalog saves you money and helps you find valuable historical resources not sold today.
USE INDEXES TO FIND ARTICLES
The trick to finding quality journal articles is to use a scholarly article index. Yes, there are some articles out there on the Web but you get better and more reliable results if you use scholarly indexes. The indexes below are great for much history research.
These particular two are from the same publishing vendor, and they can be searched simultaneously or separately.
Even better, these two are especially helpful because the abstract will tell you how many sources were used in the research for the article, and whether the author consulted primary sources.
America History & Life { 
Access for the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities only. }
The major index to articles published in the field of North American (United States and Canadian) history. AHL also includes a self-guided feature, ClioNotes, which will lead students through a chronological list of topics. Note: America: History and Life includes book reviews. If you don't want to look at book reviews you can use the Advanced Search to limit your results to Document Type: Article.
Historical Abstracts { Access for the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities only. }
The major index to articles published in the field of world history (for the period 1450 to the present). Historical Abstracts includes a self-guided feature, ClioNotes, which will lead students through a regional and chronological list of topics. Historical Abstracts is also an ABC Clio database so the screens will look similar to the ones for America: History and Life. However, Historical Abstracts does not have book reviews.
More indexes
Don't stop here! there are indexes for other time periods or geographic regions, such as Medieval Studies or Middle East Studies, and for specialized areas such as History of Medicine. These and other indexes are linked from subject pages in either Research QuickStart or on the longer Subjects pages.
BASIC: Try Research QuickStart to find basic Subject resources
ADVANCED: Explore the Subjects pages to discover additional indexes and other in-depth resources.*
*Why go "outside" of history? Because other academic disciplines have historical aspects. Think about what other disciplines cover your topic. For example, African American studies, health sciences, women's studies, urban studies, political science, and many more.
GET THE GOODS!
- Some articles will be linked directly from the listings in online indexes, but other articles are in journals published in printed form.
- If we own them, they may be held in our periodical collection in the basement of Wilson.
- Journal titles are listed in MNCAT, so you can check from home, school, or here in our libraries to find out if we own the journal that has the article you want.
- There are other locations, too. Ask a library staff member at any service desk if you have questions.
Other Resources
There are many other useful databases for history. You can find the currently available recommended indexes on these pages:
More indexes
- Want a few basic resources? Try Research QuickStart in our Undergraduate Virtual Library
- Want more choices? Use our in-depth Subjects menu.
Ask a Librarian
Once you've worked through some of the basic steps, you may have questions or need more resources or strategies. Ask at the Reference Desk, first floor of Wilson Library. They may have good suggestions for keywords, different indexes to search, or other web sites to consult for your specific topic. Be prepared to tell the librarian your exact topic and briefly say what you've already looked at. For example, rather than just saying "I'm working on my history day project," you might say, "I'm researching how Sacagawea was instrumental in helping Lewis and Clark on their journey through the Northwest. I have searched in MNCAT and in America: History and Life and I found three articles, but only two are helpful. Can you suggest anything else that I might look try?"
Page Coordinator: Susan Gangl