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Research and Information Literacy

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Differentiating between primary and secondary sources.

Primary & Secondary Sources

Primary sources are the raw materials of history, the first-hand testimony or direct evidence - original documents and objects - left behind and created by participants, witnesses, or recorders who were present at and experienced the events or conditions being documented at the time of the topic under study.

Some examples of primary sources include:

  • Original documents (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, maps, blueprints, news film footage, contemporary newspaper articles, autobiographies, official records, pamphlets, meeting notes, photographs, contemporary sketches, birth certificate, will, marriage license, trial transcript, proceedings of meetings, conferences, and symposia
  • Creative works: poetry, drama, novels, music, art 
  • Relics or artifacts: furniture, clothing, buildings, coins, tools/instruments
  • Original published results of an experiment
  • Original research article with raw data
  • Oral Histories (first-hand interviews) and their transcriptions
  • Government records (census, marriage, military, reports, treatises, constitutions)
  • Audio or video recordings (e.g. radio, television programs)
  • Internet communications (email, listservs, websites, tweets, blogs)
  • Patents
  • Survey research (e.g. market surveys, public opinion polls)
  • Advertisements

Secondary sources are materials that digest, analyze, evaluate and interpret information contained within primary sources or other secondary sources.

Examples of secondary sources:

  • Biographies (not an autobiography)
  • Articles, commentaries, research articles in all subject disciplines
  • Criticism of works of literature, art and music

 

*Tertiary/Reference sources have no original analysis or interpretation involved, and are collected and anthologized established information:

  • Textbooks
  • Encyclopedias 
  • Dictionaries
  • Handbooks/guides/manuals

When is a Secondary (or Tertiary) Source a Primary Source?

Whether something is a primary or secondary source is contextual (depends upon perspective and use). A biology textbook would be considered a secondary source if in the field of biology, since it describes and interprets that science but makes no original contribution to it. Conversely, if the topic is science education and the history of textbooks, textbooks could be used as primary sources to look at how they have changed over time. Thus, the same document, or piece of evidence, may be contextualized as a primary source in one investigation and secondary in another. In scholarly research, secondary sources are ideally peer reviewed in order to minimize bias and enhance the scholarly conversation about primary sources.

Primary Source Literacy

Primary Sources Tutorials (ProQuest)

Books about Primary Sources