ENG 122: Academic Writing II [Sources of Information] - (Duncan): Sources of Information

"A document or record containing first-hand information or original data on a topic..."   (The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science)

Primary sources were either created during the time period being studied or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (as in the case of memoirs).  They reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer.  Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period.  (University of California Berkeley Library)

Examples:

• Newspaper articles (written at the time)
• Diaries, letters, journals, interviews
• Speeches, autobiographies
• Original hand-written manuscripts
• Art, photos, films, music
• Original research, data, or findings
• Audio and video recordings
• Artifacts
• Original documents
• Websites

"Any published or unpublished work that is one step removed from the original source, usually describing, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, derived from, or based on primary source materials..."  (The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science)

Examples:

• Critical analysis essays and review articles
• Articles about people and events from the past
• Literature reviews
• Biographies
• Historical films, music, and art
• Textbooks (also considered tertiary)
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias (also considered tertiary)
• Bibliographies (also considered tertirary)

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To find out more about sources of information, click on the links below: