Secondary sources provide interpretation and analysis of primary sources.
Secondary sources are one step removed from the original event or "horse's mouth."
(Thanks to the University of Reno, Nevada Libraries website; used by permission)
The Library has hundreds of databases in subject disciplines. A good research strategy would be to match your topic to a specific database. if you were to write about Oscar Wilde's trial, a literary database like MLA International Bibliography would be a good start. If you were exploring the case of Alfred Dreyfus, we have the Index to Jewish Periodicals. Witchcraft or the suffragette trials might prompt you to look in our Gender and Women's Studies databases; if you were examining the Russian 'show trials" of the 1930's, we have a number of political science databases. Consult the Research Databases page, which is organized by subject.
