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HY 201 - First Peoples of North America

What is a Secondary Source?

Finding secondary sources is easier than finding primary sources and what people have more experience with.  They bring together both primary and secondary sources, providing analysis and interpretation of events, people, places, etc.   

Some examples include:

  • Biographies
  • Dictionaries
  • Encyclopedias
  • Journal Articles
  • Literature Reviews
  • Books and book chapters

Databases for Secondary Sources Provided by UAB Libraries

Library of Congress Subject Headings 

You can use these when searching our resources from our homepage.  Subject headings are used to help the researcher more easily find materials on the same subject matter. Library of Congress Subject Headings are assigned to all, or almost all, books and journals.  Think of this as an organized, predetermined tagging system. To make use of this system, remember to 

  • Look at the records of your search results to get an idea about what Subject Headings might work. 
  • For example, if I wanted to see what items the library might have on indigenous populations in North America I could search for the following subject
    • "Indians of North America"
  • BUT, if I didn't want or need the entire Subject Heading, I could search for only a part, with additional information if I wanted.  It might look something like this.  

search interface with title and subject selected