There are three kinds of information sources that you can use in your assignments, Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources. In your research for your classes you will be using all three kinds of information. One is not right or better than the other. They just have different purposes. So it will be helpful to understand their differences.
Primary sources are sources that tell you what people said, thought and felt at different moments in history. Primary sources can include:
You can find many primary sources online, often in big digital collections that include many different primary sources from many different eras.
Secondary sources are works that analyze and interpret primary sources. Publications written or studies done by researchers like literary writers and historians analyze primary sources to put it in historical, cultural, or literary context.
For example, a book written about a famous event, years after it takes place, is a secondary source. While researching the book, the author might rely on primary sources such as news articles, video, social media posts, speeches and letters made while the event was taking place.
There are a number of places you might go to get secondary sources--some on the web, some from digital books, and some from articles in the library databases.
Tertiary sources are found in encyclopedia, textbooks, databases, handbooks, and dictionaries. They are usually summaries or condensed information. Tertiary sources can help you better understand a topic, or locate primary and secondary sources.
There is no one universal definition of primary, secondary, or tertiary sources, rather each discipline defines primary, secondary, and tertiary sources according to the nature of the discipline.
See some definitions and examples of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources by disciplines below.
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Primary Sources |
Secondary Sources |
Tertiary Sources |
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Sciences |
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Literature, Art and Music |
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History |
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Business |
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