Secondary Sources: Supporting your Ideas
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Secondary sources are ones that interpret primary sources or are otherwise a step
removed from the original material. The critical articles provide an analytical or
investigate statement about the primary source. Secondary sources help prove and
support your thesis.
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On Monday, January 28, we will meet in the IMC for a refresher course on using the
databases to find scholarly, critical articles. You are expected to follow along with the
librarian and use your time wisely. Failure to meet these expectations will result in a
deduction of points from your paper.

You will only have one day in the IMC. You can research using the laptops in our
classroom. Blue passes are available to anyone who would like one.
 You may not use dictionaries or encyclopedias
as sources for your paper. You may not use
Cliff Notes, Spark Notes, Monarch Notes, and
sources like these as your secondary sources.

Once you’ve found sources, critically read and evaluate them:
a. Look at the publication date. If it is outdated, you may not want to use it.
b. Who is the author? What credentials does this person have? Is this person from a
reputable organization or educational institution?
c. What is the purpose of your source? If it is to persuade you, be sure to read it
critically for missing information, etc.

Last, but not least, do not use the critical article to make your argument for you. You
need to come up with the ideas on your own and then use these other sources as a
support.
Literary Criticism Made Easy
To access critical articles as secondary sources for your essays, follow the step by
step instructions below.
1. Go to www.npenn.org. Click on select a school, and drop down to North Penn
High School
2. Click on the Library link
3. On the left, find and click on Virtual Library (Databases)
4. Under INFOTRAC, select Literature Resource Center
5. click “Proceed”
6. Go down to Literature Resource Center again. Click!
7. You should now be in the database. Now, click on Advanced Search
8. To get the most hits, type (for example):
The Great Gatsby
in
title – all words
(thesis keyword)
in
keyword
Fitzgerald
in
author – last name starts
9. You MUST limit your search to Critical Essays only!!!!
Note: Always check your spelling. It must be exactly correct in order for
articles to come up.
10. Seek and find articles related to your topic and thesis. Click on titles that
sound relevant, and read the abstract to get an idea of what the article will
focus on. If it works, keep reading. If not, move on!
More Tips
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If you know exactly what you are looking for, try different keywords in your
advanced search. For example, instead of typing Fitzgerald, try typing in
words like light, eyes, Daisy, etc. You’ll get articles that focus on those things.
Remember to change your index type to “keyword” !
Print out and keep articles that you will be using. You will need the citation
information for your works cited page. However, you will NOT need the
author’s own bibliography page, so to save paper, you may want to just print
a selection.
You can always copy and paste an article to a word document, title it, and
save it on your flash drive for use at home.
Remember you need to cite at least three different critical articles (essays) in
your critical paper!
If you need to access the database from home, use the following information:
Web Address: http://infortrac.galegroup.com/itweb/lans23427
Username: lans23427
Password: nphsimc