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Books are excellent sources for secondary history research. Books can provide you with a great overview on a topic. You often don't need to read the whole book, but only a chapter or two for your research. Book bibliographies will also lead you to more excellent sources on your topic. Use Search@UW to start locating books through our library.
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Databases for Secondary Sources
Below you will find a list of popular databases used for locating secondary sources for research. You can use the filters within the databases to limit by resource type such as academic journals to locate journal articles.This is not a full list of the history databases you can use for searching. To view a full list, visit the link below. If you are having trouble locating a relevant database, visit the research help page of this guide to connect with a librarian.
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Subjects covered include history, culture, area studies, and current affairs literature of the U.S. and Canada. Find academic journals, books & book chapters, regional publications, and reviews.
America: History & Life is an index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes 1,700 journals from 1964 to present and also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages.Coverage: 1954 -
Subjects covered include First Nations Studies, history, culture studies, law, art, and more. Covers over 600 regional cultures and over 15,000 years of First Nations history. Also includes a selection of primary sources.
A wide range of subjects covered. Find academic journals, reviews, articles, and books & book chapters.
JSTOR is a digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines, including scholarly and peer-reviewed articles as well as e-books. Coverage varies by title but ranges from the 1800s to the 2010s.
Subjects covered include United States history, including events, biographies, social movements, and politics. Find academic, trade, popular, and primary sources.
Subjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news, and more. Find primary sources, federal records, organization records, and more.
Contains the collection Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle. Features records of NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and federal records.