Research Guides: English 241: Historical Secondary Sources

Historical Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are the work of critics and historians. They provide scholarly analysis of primary sources like literature, historical documents, and material artifacts. When you engage with these sources in your own, original analyses, you are joining them in scholarly conversation. We often think of our sources as providing evidence to support our claims, but the way you engage with their arguments can take a number of different forms, including to agree, extend, refute, or combine with other arguments.

Secondary sources are also a great way to identify useful sources of primary sources. Archival materials are scattered across the world, and they can be difficult to find. But scholars of literature and history make great use of these materials all the time, much as you will in this class -- checking the works cited can lead you to valuable troves of primary sources. Check out this excerpt from the end notes to historian Katherine O'Mahoney's article "The Witch Figure: The Witch of Edmonton." What different types of sources can you identify? What clues does she offer about where to find archival material related to the historical context of The Witch of Edmonton? (Some of those archives might be a little too far to be useful here! But cultivating an awareness of which archives have what strengths will make you a better researcher in the long run.)

The databases below can help you effectively conduct historical research. Identifying historical context can help you tease out ideas that might be represented very subtly in the literary work itself.

Library Databases for Historical Research

America: History & Life
This database has exactly the same features as Historical Abstracts, but it covers the US and Canada, which are NOT included in Historical Abstracts.
Historical Abstracts
What I like about this database is that it allows you to limit by "Historical Period," so you can search for an issue in a more historically specific way. If you were interested in colonialism or slavery, for instance, which may work differently at different periods in history, you could limit to articles that cover your period of interest.
JSTOR
JSTOR covers many subjects, but history is one of the ones where it's strongest.
Since this is a full-text database, there's a lot of flexibility in searching. If you have too many irrelevant results, try limiting by Subject (for instance, to History).
JSTOR provided expanded access during the pandemic (June 2020-June 2023). Expanded access expires on June 30, 2023. CUNY will reinstate that access beginning in January 2024.You may review the Electronic Resources Status Dashboard for updates. Questions? Email: access-support@qc-cuny.libanswers.com or Open a Ticket!
OneSearch
OneSearch is great when you're searching in an area where you aren't already an expert, because it brings in resources from lots of different databases, where you may not have thought to look.
ALSO, OneSearch includes the library's book holdings. Books are VERY important resources in history research and are worth a look (even if you just read the introduction).
OED | Oxford English Dictionary
NOTE: Content is currently unavailable, pending the CUNY subscription renewal during March. Oxford English Dictionary includes comprehensive definitions, quotations documenting historical uses of words, and etymological notes.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.