LibGuides: History: Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources add a layer of interpretation and analysis to primary sources, and are usually written after the time period being examined. Secondary sources can be:

Scholarly books and eBooks
Journal articles
Documentaries
Reports
Reviews
Conferences proceedings
Reliable websites

Primary sources are original sources of information, typically created at the time of the events or individuals being researched.

Below are a number of databases containing secondary sources, organised by resource type.

Secondary Source Databases

Cambridge Core
The Cambridge Core platform includes Cambridge Books Online, Cambridge Companions Online, Cambridge Journals Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Shakespeare Survey Online and University Publishing Online platforms.
Humanities International Complete (EBSCOhost)
Provides full-text of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. This database includes all data from Humanities International Index plus unique full-text content.
International Medieval Bibliography (IMB)
A multidisciplinary bibliographic database covering Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from AD 300 to 1500. It aims to provide a comprehensive, current bibliography of articles in journals and miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, essay collections or Festschriften) published worldwide in over 35 different languages.
JSTOR
Provides full-text access to back issues (delay in coverage generally 3-5 years) of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics and other fields of the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences.
Project MUSE
A source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals with over 120 publishers currently participating.
ProQuest History
Combined search across all Proquest databases relevant to history, including dissertations and theses, historical newspapers and publications on history for researchers of all levels.
Taylor Francis Online
A collection of full text journals in humanities, social sciences, science and technology from Taylor & Francis, Routledge and Psychology Press, including access to back issues from 1997 where available.
World History (Gale Onefile)
Provides an overview of world history that covers the most-studied events, periods, cultures, civilizations, religions, conflicts, wars, ideologies, cultural movements, and people.

Bridget Williams Books New Zealand History Collection
A collection of ebooks covering topics in New Zealand history, including key texts on the Treaty of Waitangi, from Bridget Williams Books (BWB), an award-winning New Zealand publisher.
Brill
Access full-text e-books in the following humanities and social sciences collections: Asian Studies; Biblical Studies, Ancient Near East and Early Christianity; Classical Studies; European History and Culture; Middle East and Islamic Studies; Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy; and Social Sciences.
Oxford Handbooks Online
One of the most prestigious and successful strands of Oxford’s scholarly publishing, the Handbook series contains in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field.
Oxford Scholarship Online
Cross-searchable library containing full-text books in the areas of Classical Studies, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, and Sociology.
SAGE Knowledge eBooks
Includes SAGE eBook and eReference content, including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more.

History (Alexander Street)
A video collection of documentaries, commercial and governmental newsreels, public affairs and archival footage, and much more to facilitate research and teaching in a comparative, transnational, and thematic way. Search across the following collections: American History in Video, American, Dutch, French, and Japanese Newsreels in Video, March of Time, World Newsreels Online: 1929–1966 and World History in Video.
Academic Video Online (AVON): Premium (Alexander Street)
Multidisciplinary documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, and raw footage.
Digital Theatre Plus
Provides access to high quality films of leading British theatre productions as well as behind-the-scenes documentaries and interviews.
eTV
Provides real-time resources through recorded TV programmes, live streams and on demand videos. First-time users must register.
Kanopy
A streaming service that provides access to video content sourced from leading suppliers.

Library Services & Help

Library & Research Advice for History Students
Two page PDF detailing keyword and boolean search tips, Google Scholar boolean search tips, and reverse citation searching.

Electronic Access Help
If you have any queries about our electronic resources (databases, e-journals or e-books), please contact the library using the form on this web page.
Interloan Service
The Interloan service enables library users to search for items, create requests for items not held in the University of Otago Library, and monitor the progress of those requests.
Reserve
Search your paper code (HIST108) to find what high demand texts your lecturers have put on Reserve.
Scan Request
This video shows how to request a PDF scan of a book section or print journal from any Otago library.