Selected Concordia University Chicago Library Resources
- Humanities search in library catalogueEverything in the library catalogue with "humanities" somewhere in the record
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database provides access to articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources across all subject areas. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to the present, with some older content. Searched through EBSCO.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new windowCombines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with the American Theological Library Association's online collection of major religion and theology journals. Full-text articles and reviews are provided for more than 300 journals.
A special feature of the this database is the ability to search by scripture. Click on the "Scriptures" tab located in the ribbon on the top left. Searching can be done by book, or expanded to search by chapter or verse. Searched through EBSCO. - Britannica AcademicGeneral purpose encyclopedia, with articles, images, videos, biographies, and links to cultural partner sites.
- JSTOR Open AccessBy combining scholarship and primary sources on one platform, JSTOR strengthens the depth and quality of research, sparks innovative connections, and generates unexpected discoveries. ArtStor is part of the platform; this collection is the most extensive image resource for educational and scholarly use. It brings together visual media from top museums, archives, scholars, and artists — all rights-cleared for education and research.
- MasterFILE PremierThis multidisciplinary database provides full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals with full-text information dating as far back as 1975. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 592,000 photos, maps & flags.
- MLA International Bibliography with Full TextThe MLA International Bibliography with Full Text combines the definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film with full text for more than 1,000 journals, including many of the leading publications in these fields. Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and international in scope, the bibliography covers scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present, including journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations. The database also includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals and the MLA Thesaurus, a proprietary, searchable collection of thousands of subject terms, and personal names used in indexing the bibliography.
- Naxos Music LibraryNaxos Music Library [NML] is the world´s largest online classical music library. The contents can be browsed by composer, artist, genre, category and label. User can search with our fast and easy-to-use keyword search engine, or by our sophisticated advanced search engine with up to 14 search criteria. In addition to listening to recordings, NML provides liner notes for many albums. Listeners can create personalized playlists or enjoy our predefined Naxos Music Library playlists. .
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowThe world's premier online music encyclopedia, offering comprehensive coverage of music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship. The gateway to Grove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music, and The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Access limited to one user at a time.
- Oxford Scholarship OnlineOffers access to ebooks published between the years 2018-2021, covering subjects across the humanities, social sciences, sciences, medicine, and law.
- Newspaper SourceSearched through EBSCO.
Selected External Humanities Resources
- Art Institute of ChicagoHome to a collection of art that spans centuries and the globe, the Art Institute of Chicago is located in the heart of the city—and is one of TripAdvisor’s Top US Attractions of 2022.
- Chicago History MuseumResearch Collections available to view by appointment at the museum; some are available digitally online. "Second City. First Hand"
- Chronicling AmericaSearch America's historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress
- Folger Shakespeare LibraryFolger Shakespeare Library is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. The Folger welcomes millions of visitors online and in person. We provide unparalleled access to a huge array of resources, from original sources to modern interpretations.
- GettyGetty is a cultural and philanthropic institution dedicated to the presentation, conservation, and interpretation of the world’s artistic legacy. Through the collective and individual work of its constituent programs—Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Foundation, J. Paul Getty Museum, and Getty Research Institute—Getty pursues its mission in Los Angeles and throughout the world, serving both the general interested public and a wide range of professional communities in order to promote a vital civil society through an understanding of the visual arts.
- Getty Publications Virtual LibraryMore than 300 art books available to read and download
- Getty Research InstituteSearch tools and databases, many of them open access, to items in the Getty Collection.
- HymnaryA comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals
- Library of Congress Digital CollectionsCollection of digitized images of primary source documents - photographs, maps, manuscripts - relating to American History
- The NewberryThe Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics related to the history and cultural production of Western Europe and the Americas over the last six centuries. Core collection strengths support research in several subject areas, including maps, travel, and exploration; music from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century; early contact between Western colonizers and Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere; the personal papers of twentieth-century American journalists; the history of printing; and genealogy and local history.
- New York Public Library - Music DivisionThe Music Division is one of the world's preeminent music collections—documenting the art of music in all its diversity—classical and opera as well as the whole spectrum of popular music including spirituals, ragtime, jazz, musical theater, film, rock and world music. While the division contains many scores and manuscripts from centuries past, its curatorial mandate is an activist one, placing major emphasis on capturing the creative output of contemporary composers.
- Petrie Museum of Egyptian ArcheologyThe Petrie Museum houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. It illustrates life in the Nile Valley from prehistory through the time of the pharaohs, the Ptolemaic, Roman and Coptic periods to the Islamic period.
- Pritzker Military Museum and Library - Archival CollectionsWith over 250 archival collections that focus on the personal stories of citizen soldiers, the Museum & Library has materials related to service members in nearly every U.S. war, with our strengths being World War I, World War II, and U.S. Army service members. Each collection listed below includes a link to a finding aid that details what is in the collection.
Archival collections are stored at an off-site archival facility. An appointment is required to view a collection. Please contact the Museum & Library at archives@pritzkermilitary.org to schedule an appointment. - Project Muse - Open AccessProject MUSE offers open access (OA) books, journals, and digital humanities works from several distinguished university presses, scholarly societies, and independent not-for-profit academic publishers. Through our open access hosting programs, we are able to offer publishers a platform for their OA content which ensures visibility, discoverability, and wide dissemination. These materials are freely available to libraries and users around the world.
- Tate ImagesBrowse images from the collection of one of the world's premier art galleries. Scroll down the page - you can search by categories, such as "dog" or "beach" or "happiness"
- V&A MuseumThe V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, books and archives that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.
How to Identify Primary Sources
PRIMARY
poem / novel / letter / diary
interview / oral history/ empirical research article
law / court case / census data / data set / memoir / autobiography / photographs / speeches
What are Primary Sources
Primary Sources
Primary sources are created by people or organizations directly involved in an issue or event. Primary sources are information before it has been analyzed by scholars, students, and others.
Some examples of primary sources:
- diaries and letters
- academic articles presenting original scientific research
- news reports from the time of the event
- literature (poems, novels, plays, etc.)
- fine art (photographs, paintings, sculpture, pottery, music, etc.)
- official records from a government, judicial court, or company
- oral histories
- speeches
- autobiographies
- dissertations: while they are considered primary resources, they are NOT considered peer-reviewed
What are Secondary Sources
SECONDARY
critique / anthology / scholarly article
book / literature review / essay / review
analysis of data / biography / political commentary / analysis
Secondary Sources
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources analyze and interpret issues and events. Secondary sources, such as scholarly articles, are typically written by experts who study a topic but are not directly involved in events themselves. Also, secondary sources are usually produced some time after an event occurs and may well contain analysis of primary sources.
Some examples of secondary sources:
- scholarly articles that analyze, review, and/or compare past research
- news reports or articles looking back at a historical event
- documentaries
- biographies
- encyclopedias
- textbooks
TIP: If you are looking at peer-reviewed articles, look at the abstract to verify if is a primary or secondary source! If the title mentions the words: review, it is likely to be secondary.
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Mary-Carol Riehs
Contact:
Klinck Memorial Library Room KL018
Concordia University Chicago
7400 August Street
River Forest IL 60305
Concordia University Chicago
7400 August Street
River Forest IL 60305
708.488.4375
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