Collins Memorial Library: SSI1-177: What is Marriage For?: Secondary Sources

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.

Strategies for Finding Books

1. Start with specific titles suggested in subject encyclopedia entries.

2. Identify the Library of Congress Subject Headings for that book to identify additional books on the topic.

To do this, check the "Item Details" and simply click on one of the subject headings listed in the record for the book; the next screen will list all the books that share this subject term.

3. If required for your assignment, make sure that the book is scholarly.

Search Primo

Featured Books

Marriage by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese; Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose (Editor)
Call Number: HQ536 .F69 2008 Print Books
ISBN: 9781933859620
Publication Date: 2008
In this book, historian Elizabeth Fox-Genovese argues that marriage is disintegrating under the rising demands that it serve not the good of the whole but the desires of the individual.
Marriage and Family by H. Elizabeth Peters (Editor); Claire Kamp M. Dush (Editor)
Call Number: HQ734 .M3872 2009 Print Books
ISBN: 9780231144087
Publication Date: 2009-07-16
Tracks new conceptions of marriage and family as they are being formed, and explores the motivation to marry and the role of matrimony in contemporary society. Compares empirical data from several emerging family types to studies of traditional nuclear families, and considers the effect of public policy on the practice of marriage and the stabilization--or destabilization--of family.
What Is Marriage For? by E. J. Graff
Call Number: HQ734 .G716 1999 Print Books
ISBN: 9780807041147
Publication Date: 1999-06-01
This book traces the history of the institution, from a feminist perspective, illuminating the many forms marriage has taken, arguing forcefully for the legalization of same-sex marriage, and shedding new light on such ongoing battles as equality between wives and husbands and the contentious definition of "family."
Making Marriage Work: a history of marriage and divorce in the twentieth-century United States by Kristin Celello
Call Number: HQ535 .C36 2009 Print Books
ISBN: 9780807832523
Publication Date: 2009-02-01
Offers a historical account of marriage and divorce in America in the twentieth century, focusing on the development of the idea of marriage as "work."
Marriage Confidential: love in the post-romantic age by Pamela Haag
Call Number: HQ734 .H125 2012 Print Books
ISBN: 9780061719295
Publication Date: 2012
Combines autobiographical detail, cultural history, revelatory first-hand accounts, and research to unravel the sources of post-romantic discontent and offers inspiration for those who want more than the semi-happy status quo.

Reading a Call Number

Collins Library uses the Library of Congress classification scheme to organize books on the shelves. Follow these tips to find the book you need.

Example:

Start with the top line. It is in alphabetical order. Ex. HQ
The second line is a whole number. Ex. 535
The third line is a combination of a letter and numbers. Read the letter alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, eg. Y.23, Y.34, Y.344, Y.4, etc. Ex. C416 (*Some call numbers have more than one combination letter-number line.)
The last line is the year the book was published. Read in chronological order. Ex. 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015, etc. Ex. 2010

Use the library map to find where the book is located.

Browsing Call Numbers

If you're interested in a broad topic related to marriage, Gender Studies, or would like to browse for inspiration, try one of these Library of Congress call letters:

HQ 1-2044 The Family. Marriage. Women
- HQ 12-449 Sexual life
  - HQ 19-30.7 Sexual behavior and attitudes. Sexuality
  - HQ 74-74.2 Bisexuality
  - HQ 75-76.8 Homosexuality. Lesbianism
  - HQ 77.7-77.95 Transexualism
- HQ 801-801.83 Man-woman relationships
- HQ 1075-1075.5 Sex role
- HQ 1088-1090.7 Men
- HQ 1101-2030.7 Women. Feminism

Recommended Subject Databases

These subject databases may be especially useful for your research projects for this class. Depending on your topic and your angle, you may wish to search additional subject databases.

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, books, essays in books, and dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Family Studies Abstracts
Includes bibliographic records covering areas related to family studies, including marriage, divorce, family therapy, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
Gender Studies Database
Covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia.
PsycINFO
The American Psychological Association's (APA) resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health.
Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest)
Provides access to multiple databases covering the international literature in the social sciences, including politics, sociology, social services, anthropology, criminology and education.
Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.

Multidisciplinary Databases

The databases listed below are examples of multidisciplinary finding aids.

Note: If you need discipline-specific resources, it is better to use the recommended subject databases under the "articles" tab in the library subject guides.

Academic Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database containing full text journal, magazine & newspaper articles, many from peer-reviewed titles. This scholarly collection covers information in nearly every area of academic study.
JSTOR
An interdisciplinary journal archive. It includes archives of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work.
Project MUSE
Interdisciplinary database includes books and articles from scholarly publishers with focus on humanities and social science.
ProQuest Central
Covering more than 160 subject areas, ProQuest Central is a large aggregated database of periodical content. It features a diversified mix of content including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos.

General Database Search Tips

Try these strategies to become a better, more efficient searcher -- and help you find articles that you can actually use:

Build your search vocabulary -- keep a running list of key words, phrases, concepts, synonyms, and any related terms or ideas that you find.
Use advanced search features -- narrow your search with "AND," expand your search with "OR," or search in specified fields (i.e., author, title, publication, abstract).
Use search limits -- control the types of results you get (academic journals? language?) and how they are displayed (date? relevance?) so that you're only looking at results you can use.
Try multiple searches and evaluate your results -- try to figure out why you got the results you did, and adjust your search until you get closer to results you can use.
Use database descriptors -- once you find an article that looks good, see what descriptors or "subject headings" were assigned to it in the database. You can use these to search only for articles that have the same descriptors attached.

Tipasa: Interlibrary Loan

If your article is not available at Collins Library, you've got another option for getting it. Use Tipasa, our interlibrary loan service.

Tipasa is linked to your library account so you'll need to log in to use it.

Once you are logged in, either go directly to Tipasa and manually enter the information, or, if you're using a database, look for a shortcut link to automatically fill out the form:

Allow at least a week for the article to come. If your article is delivered in electronic format, you'll receive an email with a link to follow as soon as it's arrived.