Research Guides: PHL210 Bailey: Secondary sources

What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources are information sources about primary sources. Secondary sources interpret, explain, describe, or draw conclusions based on works written by others. Examples include:

Most books
Textbook
Dictionary, encyclopedia
Biography
Peer-reviewed journal article that critique others’ work
Literature review
Website
Art, book, movie, or theater review

Find secondary sources

Encyclopedia articles

eBooks and Encyclopedias (Gale) This link opens in a new window
eBooks and Encyclopedias (Gale) contains full text online reference books on the subjects of art, business, education, environment, history, medicine, multicultural studies, religion, science, and social science. eBooks and Encyclopedias (Gale) is a great place to start your research - it is the academic version of Wikipedia!
How to search eBooks and Encyclopedias (Gale)

Encyclopedia of Philosophy
RECOMMENDED BY MARTHA! A very useful discipline-specific encyclopedia found in Gale eBooks / Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Critiques/summaries in articles

Religion and Philosophy Collection This link opens in a new window
Religion and Philosophy Collection includes peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and book reviews. Topics include world religions, major denominations, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy.
How to search Religion and Philosophy Collection
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Magazine, trade journal, newspaper, and peer-reviewed journal articles on a wide range of subjects and is good for research on almost every topic. Most articles are available in full-text. It’s a great place to look for scholarly resources when you’re not sure where to start.
Literature Resource Center (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Literature Resource Center includes up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 150,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
How to search Literature Resource Center (Gale)

Critiques/summaries in book chapters

Ebook Central (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Ebook Central (ProQuest) has tens of thousands of titles geared toward an academic audience and contains titles related to the arts, business, education, nursing, history, journalism, literature, religion and philosophy, and STEM.
How to search Ebook Central (ProQuest)
EBSCO eBooks Collection This link opens in a new window
EBSCO's ever-growing eBook collection includes eBooks on every topic, including business, health sciences, literary criticism, performing arts, religion, social sciences, technology, and CTE (career and technical education).
How to search EBSCO eBooks

CCC Library catalog
Search CCC Library's print collection. Use the call number to find the item on the shelf!

Primary vs. secondary sources

Learn the difference between primary and secondary sources. (Video created by Hartness Library, CCV/Vermont Tech.)
Can't see the video or would like Closed Captioning? You can watch the video on Youtube.