What are Secondary Sources?
Secondary sources:
- analyze past conditions or events
- frame a condition or event within a greater context
- interpret and discuss primary sources
- summarize information about a topic based upon primary sources
Secondary sources are often produced in the months and years following an event.
Secondary Sources as Primary Sources
In some cases, a secondary source may serve as primary source due to the research context.
- A book review article can analyze and interpret a secondary source book. The book review is the secondary source and the book is the primary source.
- Newspaper articles and documentaries may include first hand accounts, interviews, images and original footage which serve as primary sources.
- A secondary source book or article written in a specific time period may reflect viewpoints from that time that an author can interpret and analyze as primary source information.
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Example Secondary Sources from the Library
Evolution's Wedge by Publication Date: 2012Publisher: University of California Press
The authors interpret and analyze scholarly journal articles and books containing original research related to evolution to explore evolutionary biology and biodiversity.
Fashion Talks by Publication Date: 2012Publisher: State University of New York Press
The authors in this anthology interpret primary sources including television, film, literature, online videos, and statistics to address the politics of fashion.
Postcards from the Trenches: Negotiating Space Between Modernism and the First World War by Publication Date: 1996Publisher: Oxford University Press
The author analyzes primary sources including Modernist literature, postcards, maps and other visual materials from the World War I period to study British society and culture.
Public Administration by Publication Date: 2010Publisher: Georgetown University Press
The author uses analysis of journal articles and books to examine approaches to research in the field of public administration.
The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment by Publication Date: 2004Publisher: Oxford University Press
The author relies on statistcs gathered from a variety of reliable sources and court opinion to develop his argument on the death penalty in the United States.
