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CCS 146 : The Seven Deadly Sins

What's a Secondary Source?

In secondary sources, authors analyze and interpret primary source materials. 

Secondary sources can be scholarly or popular.  Scholarly sources (sometimes called "academic" or "peer-reviewed" sources) are written by and for experts and typically include bibliographies and citations.  Popular sources are written for a general, non-expert audience and can be authored by anyone.

Where do I search?

Selecting the best or most appropriate finding aid for identifying sources depends almost entirely on the context of your research assignment. There is no single database or web search interface that will work for every research context; instead, you'll need to match your specific research needs to a variety of options.

Library catalog searches (i.e., Primo) can be the better choice when you are seeking in-depth, book-length treatments of a topic.

Multidisciplinary databases (i.e., JSTOR) cover a wide variety of subject areas and may include a mix of popular and scholarly sources. They can be the most appropriate choice when you just want to get a sense of what's available on a topic and when it isn't so important that you pay attention to disciplinary lenses.

Subject databases (i.e., MLA International Bibliography) cover a specific discipline and provide the widest range of access to scholarly sources. They are used for in-depth research. Which subject databases you search will be determined by who may be writing about your topic. Recommended subject databases for each discipline can be found on the "articles" page in each library subject guide.

Database Search Tips

Always use the advanced search interface and some combination of the following techniques to increase the effectiveness of your searches:

 Search Technique    What It Does
  quotation marks   Searches for exact phrase
  Truncation (usually an *)   Searches for all forms of a word
  Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)     Lets you broaden or narrow your search
  Database thesaurus or index               Allows you to pinpoint the exact indexing terms the database uses 

 

Examples: 

hope AND communit*

agape OR charity OR caritas

despair NOT sin

(sloth OR acedia) AND fear

Suggested Databases

Practice: Comparing and Evaluating Search Tools

Choose a broad topic (no more than 2-3 concepts) and conduct a preliminary investigation into the topic using 3 different search tools: a multidisciplinary database, a subject database, and Google Scholar. 

Keep track of your results and respond to the following questions:

  • Search terms used
  • How many results did you get?
  • What are the subject terms for the various scholarly articles and books in your results?
  • Scan the first two pages of search results. List some aspects of your topic being discussed.
  • If you wanted to try to find additional relevant results, what other search terms might you try to use?
  • How can you get to the full text of articles?
  • How can you save an article for later or send it to yourself?
  • Are there any tools to help you cite articles?
  • Anything else interesting (or frustrating?) about the database?