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Using Secondary Sources
Much of the research you do will involve finding and using high-quality secondary sources: nonfiction texts, video documentaries, multimedia reports, presentations by experts, and so on.
Understanding Nonfiction Books
Nonfiction books have a number of common elements, each of which provides a different type of information.
Common Parts of a Book
- A title page gives the full title of the book, the author’s name, the publisher’s name, and the city of publication.
- A copyright page comes right after the title page. It tells you the year when the copyright was issued. (If the copyright is too old, the information might be outdated.)
- A preface, a foreword, or an introduction usually follows. It explains the purpose of the book.
- The table of contents identifies the page numbers of major divisions of the book (units, chapters, and topics).
- The body or main part of the book contains the core information in the text.
- The index lists in alphabetical order the page location of specific topics covered in the book. It appears at the end of the book.
Additional Elements
- There may also be an acknowledgment page, listing people who helped with the book. (This information can also be combined with another page, as is shown in the example on the next page.)
- An appendix sometimes follows the main text, and it contains extra information such as graphics, maps, lists, and other special information.
- A glossary, if it is included, provides an alphabetical listing of special words and terms. Refer to this part if you are unsure of the meaning of a certain word.
- A bibliography lists sources that the author used and other sources on the topic.
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Your Turn Find the different parts in a nonfiction book of your choice. Pay careful attention to the type of information contained in each part, but remember that the book may not contain every part described here.
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Understanding Periodicals
Periodicals are newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals—all of which are published “periodically.” Some periodicals are in print, some are electronic, and some use both formats (often with added information or a multimedia element in the electronic version).
Advantages of Periodicals: They publish recent, timely information from a variety of writers. Periodicals target a wide range of topics, and some are written for the general public, while others are meant for specific scholars.
Disadvantages of Periodicals: Rapid publication schedules can result in incomplete information, although updates and corrections are published later, especially in online versions. Editorial decisions can be biased by influential advertisers, powerful owners, or a particular subscribership.
Newspapers
Newspapers have a long history. The earliest true newspaper was published in Germany in 1605, about 150 years after the printing press was invented. In 1690, Publick Occurrences became the first newspaper published in the New World. By the 1830s, “Penny Press” papers in New York made news popular among the general population and developed modern journalistic practices, such as on-the-spot reporting.
Modern newspapers remain one of the best sources of local and regional news. In fact, public notices are required by law to appear in a “newspaper of record” before becoming official. Newspaper archives—often called “morgues”—are a great place to investigate historical details. Your library may have microfilm or microfiche copies of old newspapers. Most newspapers also keep an archive of old issues online. Newspapers are typically published daily or weekly.
Parts of a Newspaper
- Front page: The first page of a newspaper, showing its title, publication information, and index of sections, plus the most important headlines and articles
- Folio: Publication information under the paper’s title, including date and price
- Article: An essay, often called a “story,” about one news item
- Feature: An article on the front page or otherwise prominently displayed
- Byline: The name of the writer displayed below an article title
- Editorial: An opinion piece written by an editor of the paper
- Editorial cartoon: A cartoon expressing a political opinion
- Letters to the editor: Opinions from readers
- Section: A folded part of a newspaper, arranged by topic (“Business,” “Sports,” etc.)
- Classified ads: Pages of short advertisements arranged by category
- Business: A section devoted to business news
- Entertainment: A section devoted to entertainment news (or lifestyles)
- Sports: A section devoted to sports news and analysis
- Obituaries: Announcements of deaths, often noting memorials and funerals
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Magazines and Journals
Unlike daily newspapers, magazines and journals may be published weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, or at some other interval. Print editions also tend to use better paper and more color than newspapers do. The main difference between magazines and journals is their audience. Journals are written by scholars for scholars; magazines are produced by professional writers and editors for a general readership. Specific magazines and journals may be devoted to a particular topic or field of study. Popular Mechanics, for instance, is a magazine about developments in mechanical engineering, while the Journal of Infectious Diseases covers one aspect of medical study.
Note: Not all magazine or journal articles are secondary sources. Some are actually tertiary sources summarizing other secondary sources.
Parts of a Magazine or Journal
- Cover: Like a book cover, the front of a magazine or journal provides the title. Typically, it also shows volume, issue, and publication date and may list featured articles. Issue: Each new printing of a magazine or journal is an issue, which may be published weekly, monthly, quarterly, and so on. Volume: For some publications (especially scholarly works), a year’s worth of issues is a volume.
- Masthead: Similar to the copyright page of a book, the masthead lists publication information (publisher, editors, directors, and office address).
- Table of contents: Like books, magazines and journals usually have a table of contents that lists the articles inside. Some have more than one list of contents: A “Features” page first, followed by a “Departments” page of other articles.
- Editor’s note: Near the front, magazines and journals frequently include a letter or statement from the editor, revealing recent news about the periodical or providing background for articles in the issue.
- Letters: Reader responses to articles from earlier issues may be included near the front of a periodical. In an online publication, these responses may instead be published as comments directly following an article.
- Body: The body, or main part, of the magazine or journal contains the articles. Pagination by issue: Most magazines are paginated by issue. That is, each issue begins with page number 1. Pagination by volume: Journals are often paginated by volume. The first issue each year will begin with page 1, and subsequent issues will begin where the previous issue left off.
- Advertisements: Magazines often have nearly as many advertisements as articles. Somes advertisers try to make their ads look like articles, so it’s important to distinguish the publication’s articles from the advertisers’. Journals tend to have fewer ads, and those ads often promote other journals.
- Indexes: Some journals have indexes that identify authors and article titles. A volume often provides indexes for all of the issues included.
Your Turn Find a newspaper, a magazine, and a journal on a subject of your choice. Look for each part listed on these two pages.
