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HIST 200: Historian's Craft (Bazzaz): Secondary Sources

Fall 2022

Research Strategies

Use the resources in the boxes below to search for Books, Articles and Journals on your topic. 

But first, read the next few tabs for some important Search Strategies. 

Choosing the Right Search Tool

There are three main categories of databases that you may encounter while doing historical research:

General Article Databases

  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., all typically secondary)
  • Cover a variety of subject areas; 
  • Good places to begin research OR to do research on an interdisciplinary topic. May not be specific enough for advanced research. 
Subject Article Databases
 
  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia, etc., all typically secondary)
  • Focus on a specific subject area or areas;
  • Include tools designed for specialized research (e.g., ability to search by historical period).
Primary Source Databases 
​
  • May contain a variety of source types (newspapers, ephemera, manuscripts, etc.) or be limited to one, but all are of the primary source genre. 
  • Typically focused on the basis of one or more of the following: date; geography; type of source; and/or topic. 
  • Usually includes tools specifically designed for searching primary sources (e.g., chronological browse; ability to narrow by geography; pointers linked from introductory essays; etc.) 

In order to choose an appropriate database, you should consider your research needs. What do you need at this point in time? Are you still becoming familiar with your topic, or are you trying to fill specific gaps? 

Always consider the limitations of your topic. For example, if you are researching European history, you won't get far searching for secondary literature in America: History & Life!  This is even more important when searching for primary sources. When selecting a primary source database from our collections, you should try to identify one that matches your topic based on...

Chronology, topic, geography or genre


EXAMPLE: if you are hoping to find news reports on the London Blitz, not just any primary database will do! You need a resource that: 

  1. Provides access to newspapers; 
  2. Includes resources published in the UK; 
  3. Cover the period 1940-1941. 

Need help selecting a database?

Consult your professor, or a librarian! 

It's All About Keywords! 

Your search terms matter!

In general:

  • Use keywords or brief (2-word) phrases instead of sentences -- one or two for each part of your topic.
     
  • Use concepts and other nouns as your keywords.  Think of words that are likely to be used in titles (or that you have seen in titles).
     
  • When you find a good source, look at its References or Works Cited list. That will often lead you to other useful primary and secondary sources.

If your keywords aren't turning up many results, you may need to:

  • Try thinking of synonyms or other ways of phrasing your topic. If you can find one or two relevant articles, check to see what subject keywords are listed (or look for other clues in the text) and try to build keywords from there. 
     
  • Try a broader search (broader topic, broader date-range, etc.).
     
  • Try a different database.

How Searches Work

Some research tools -- Google and other web searches as well as certain databases -- conduct what is called a full-text search, which scans every word of the document(s) being searched from beginning to end. 

Others, including the majority of our research databases and the library catalog, conduct what is called a bibliographic or metadata search. These tools scan only the metadata, or descriptive information about the documents they contain -- titles, abstracts, subject keywords and other info. This is why searching for sentences or entire phrases often works poorly in the research databases, and why Google produces so many more matches. 

So which do you choose? 

A bibliographic search will bring you fewer results, but will be tailored to results that mention your terms in the descriptive information (and therefore, are more likely to be relevant). 

A  full text search will bring you a greater number of results, but more of them are likely to be irrelevant (for example, if your search term appears only once in the document in an off-hand mention). However, it might catch some articles that you might not see otherwise, and may help you find articles whose bibliographic information uses different terminology to describe your topic. 

You may want to experiment with tools that conduct both kinds of searches, to get the widest range of resources on your topic. 

Following Citations (citation tracing): 

No piece of research stands alone; each is part of a broader scholarly conversation in that topic/ field.

Often, one really good resource can light a "spark" that allows you to greatly expand your research -- as long you know how to follow it! 

keywords– Check the abstract, subject terms and full-text to discover the vocabulary being used in this particular scholarly conversation.

subject terms/tags– Subject terms not only provide insight into vocabulary you should use but also serve as search tools – click on these tags in any database (or the catalog) to find more resources on a given topic.

cited references – Check the references list (or bibliography) to see what previous research this resource is drawing on. From here, you may wish to consider: 

- Previous articles or books published on your topic
- Other authors who have published on your topic
- Journals where your topic is frequently discussed

times cited – Check Google Scholar to see which articles or books have cited your sources, and to find
more-recent research which builds on your original information.


** Once you find a new resource, you can also trace the scholarly conversation around that book/article to find even more resources! **

For a simpler, graphic representation of this research strategy, download the handout below: 

Recommended Tools:

Find Books, E-Books & Book Chapters

Books, eBooks, & Chapters

Catalog Search Tips:

You can search for books and ebooks at Holy Cross using CrossSearch, the main search box on our website: 

 

... or, using the Library Catalog link under the search box, which you can see above. 

Usually, the best way to begin searching for books is by using broad keywords. Choose search terms that reflect your topic, but don't get too specific, remembering that book topics and titles tend to be quite broad. If your search is unsuccessful, try taking it one step broader. 

Since CrossSearch contains many different types of sources, you may want to use the Limit To option in the side navigation of your search results and choose Catalog Only to narrow your search to ebooks, books and similar print/physical resources. 

Once you have started to find books relevant to your topic, you can check their records to look for subject tags/headings. These headings are used throughout the catalog -- you can either follow the links to find books with the same tags, or you can use the terms in the subject headings to guide you in revising your search terms. 

Navigating the Library Stacks:

Books at Dinand Library are arranged by Library of Congress Call Number.

  • Reference books are in the Main Reading Room.
  • Call numbers A through G are on the upper (Mezzanine) level.
  • Call numbers H through Z are on the lower (Ground) level (with a few exceptions).
  • N and TR call numbers are located on the main level in the Visual Arts Wing.
  • Oversize books (with a "+" in the call number) are shelved at the end of the normal section for that letter. 

See the handout below for information about how the stacks are organized, and the best places for you to look. 

You can also watch this video  to learn more about how call numbers work. Or, check out the Library of Congress Classification Outline for a detailed breakdown of our call number system. 

And of course, you might also find books you'd like to read at other libraries -- read more about Interlibrary Loan on the Access Sources page. 

E-Books

During remote learning, you still have access to the thousands of e-books included in our collections. 

Searching for E-Books at Holy Cross:
To search for e-books located at Holy Cross, use CrossSearch.
Then, use the Resource Type limiter in the side navigation to focus your search on e-books. 

You may also want to search in our specific e-book collections: 

When searching within a specific ebook collection, you will be able to search the full text of each book allowing more detailed searching. For example, you may search the library catalog and not find any titles on your topic, but a search in ebrary might find a book with one chapter focused on your topic.

Accessing E-Books at Holy Cross:
In most cases, your best option is to use the "Read Online" feature for our e-books. Most academic e-books do not work with devices that you might use to read personal e-books, such as a Kindle or Nook (believe me -- this frustrates librarians too!). There is software that you can download onto a PC or iPad, but this can be difficult to use, so if you have a stable internet connection, I recommend reading online. 

However, if you would like to download the software, or if you are having trouble accessing any particular e-book, please feel free to contact us (libref@holycross.edu) or see our e-books guide linked below: 

NOTE that most e-books do have limits on printing. Each publisher has different functionality and rules for downloading and printing ebooks. 

Locating Book Chapters:

Locating book chapters that you may want to read can take a little more time. Here are some creative ways that you might find book chapters: 

  • CrossSearch -- some, but not all, of our books have tables of contents in the catalog that you can check; 
  • Google Books typically have limited previews, but if you can see enough to locate a helpful chapter, we can get you a copy; 
  • Similarly, Amazon.com previews; 
  • Google Scholar sometimes includes citations for book chapters (and searches across Google Books); 
  • Databases (some, but not all, include book chapter citations specifically; America History & Life is one); 
  • Citations in bibliographies of articles, e-books, or other books that you may have checked out before we closed. 

You can also try searching WorldCat, which searches the collections of libraries around the world (including ours!). Sometimes the information about a book is listed differently in WorldCat, allowing you to find sources that you would never have pulled up in our own catalog. 

Each of these strategies can be used to....

(1) Find the titles of book chapters in our own libraries, which library staff can scan and send to you; or 

(2) Find the titles of book chapters held by other libraries, which can be requested on Interlibrary Loan.

Requesting Book Chapters:

For instructions on how to obtain book chapters that you would like to use, see the Access Sources page on this guide. 

Academic Journals

Academic Journals

Journals Online 

All the information that you will need to find a journal article online, is contained in the article citation. Use the citation to look up the journal in the E-Journals Search.  

The E-Journals search is like a cheatsheet for the databases. It will tell you which journals we have online access to, for which dates, and in which databases. You can find some tips for using the E-Journals portal here. Follow the citation to browse to the journal (and, if applicable, volume and issue) you need. 

Can't find the journal in E-Journals? Check to see if we have a copy in the library. 

Journals in the Library

Just like with online journals, everything you need to find a journal article in print in the library can be found in the citation. The steps are just a little bit different! 

To start, search for the name of the journal (not the specific article) in CrossSearch or the Classic Catalog -- just like you would for a book. 

Try exploring CrossSearch for books and articles related to your topic.   To search for only books, click the "Catalog Only" button in the left menu of the results page.

CrossSearch 

 

 If we own the journal, you will see a record like this, just like you would for a book: 

In the library, you can use the call number to find the correct journal volume the same way you would for a book. If you are learning remotely, you can use Document Delivery to request a scan of journals we do not have online access to: 

 

 Instructions for using Document Delivery 

 

Academic Articles

Academic Articles

History Databases

Recommended General Databases

Article Search Tips

  • You’ll want to use keywords instead of phrases. See if you can express each part of your topic in one or two words. Think of words that are likely to be used as subject keywords or titles.
  • Use "quotes to indicate phrases." Use  AND, OR,to build a more complicated search. 
     
  • Specific names, events, organizations, etc. usually make for solid keywords when used in combination with broader concepts. 
     
  • If  your keywords aren’t working, think of synonyms or other ways of phrasing your topic and try those. Also remember alternate spellings. Or, try a less-specific search, with fewer or broader keywords. 

E-Journals

In addition to the research databases, you can use the Libraries' E-Journals Search to look for articles in specific journals. 

This can be a useful strategy when: 

  • Your professor has recommended specific journals that address your topic; 
  • You notice that the same journals come up frequently while doing your research;
  • You have a citation for a specific article that you would like to read (see the Finding Full Text tab for more).  

Just make sure not to rely too much on one or two specific journals. To get the broadest perspective possible on your topic, it's best practice to use multiple sources. 

Here are some journals you may want to use as a starting point: 

Special Search Tools 
Databases focused on a particular subject area (often called subject or subject-specific databases) often come with special features geared towards the needs of that subject area. 
 
Historical Period Searches

One such tool can be found in the Historical Abstracts and America History & Life databases. Most databases will allow you to search for articles published within a certain time-frame, but this is not as useful if you are trying to locate information on a specific historical era -- you won't be looking for (secondary) sources published in the 1800s! 

These databases include Historical Period information for each article, allowing you to search for articles about a specific time period.