What is a secondary source?
A secondary source is a scholarly discussion based on primary sources. Typically, a secondary source contains original research.
Why should I use secondary sources?
Secondary sources are useful for in-depth analysis of your topic and for learning about scholarly perspectives on your topic. You can use a secondary source as a conversation partner about a topic or you can take the methodology from a secondary source an apply it to a new research question.
What are some examples of secondary sources?
Secondary sources include articles, blogs, books (often called monographs), lectures, podcasts, and scientific reports. Any kind of scholarly literature can be a secondary source.
Pro tip: Although the distinction between primary sources and secondary sources is useful, it is not absolute. A secondary source may become a primary source depending on the researcher's perspective. Consider a textbook on American history from the 1990's. If a researcher uses the textbook for a scholarly perspective on the civil rights movement, then it is a secondary source. However, if the researcher uses the textbook to as evidence of curriculum in the 1990's, then it is a primary source.
Databases are specialized collections of citations and full-text links to articles in specific subject areas. Using a database can help you limit your search more easily to a specific subject and will also give you citations to works that we don't have in the Brown Library, which you can then request from Interlibrary Loan by using the Findit! link.
Also see the Reference Works page for encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Provides access to industry research reports U.S. and select international markets, current.
Current; IBISWorld provides access to two collections of research reports for business and marketing information. Industry Market Research Reports (typically 30-40 page reports) are available for 700 US industries; reports include key statistics, market segmentation, market characteristics, industry conditions, key factors, key competitors, industry performance, and industry outlook. US Specialized Industry Reports are market research reports for small or new industries. New reports are added every week.
Nexis Uni is a source for information on U.S. and international companies and executives. Includes print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs; local, regional, national and international newspapers; legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790.
1790-present; Nexis Uni has more than 15,000 news, legal and business sources including:
Print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs
Local, regional, national and international newspapers with deep archives
Extensive legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790
Business information on more than 80 million U.S. and international companies and more than 75 million executives
For more resources and to contact our Business Librarian, please see:
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