COMMENTS

  1. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

    Secondary sources are interpretations and analyses based on primary sources. For example, an autobiography is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source. Typical secondary sources include: Scholarly Journal Articles. Use these and books exclusively for writing Literature Reviews. Magazines. Reports. Encyclopedias. Handbooks ...

  2. What is a Secondary Source?

    A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may contain pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources. Some types of secondary source include: Textbooks; journal articles; histories; criticisms; commentaries; encyclopedias

  3. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

    Primary sources provide raw information and first-hand evidence. Examples include interview transcripts, statistical data, and works of art. Primary research gives you direct access to the subject of your research. Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews ...

  4. Secondary source

    In scholarship, a secondary source [1] [2] is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary, or original, source of the information being discussed. A primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation or it may be a document created by ...

  5. History: Primary vs. Secondary Sources

    A primary source is an original material created during the time under study. Primary sources can be original documents, creative works, published materials of the times, institutional and government documents or relics and artifacts. Secondary sources put primary sources in context. They comment, summarize, interpret or analyze information ...

  6. Primary & Secondary Sources

    Secondary Sources. Secondary sources provide commentary upon, interpretation of, or analysis of primary sources. They put primary sources in context. ... For example, Stephen Oates' 1977 biography of Abraham Lincoln, With Malice Toward None: A Life Of Abraham Lincoln, could be considered a. Secondary Source, if you are studying the life of ...

  7. Primary and Secondary Sources in the Humanities and Social Sciences

    A secondary source contains commentary on or discussion about a primary source. The most important feature of secondary sources is that they offer an interpretation of information gathered from primary sources. Common examples of a secondary source are: Biographies. Indexes, Abstracts, Bibliographies (used to locate a secondary source)

  8. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

    A primary source gives you direct access to the subject of your research. Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesises primary sources. Primary sources are more credible as evidence ...

  9. 2.3: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

    A secondary source usually interprets a primary source. They can include books (such as biographies) and many periodicals. A novel or film (The Great Gatsby or Star Wars) or any other work of art is a primary source; a review of the film or a book analyzing or commenting on the novel is a secondary source.

  10. Background and Secondary Sources

    Secondary sources In addition to the online library catalog ( Books+ and Orbis ), reference sources, and footnotes in sources you've already found (etc.), subject-specific databases are another extremely helpful resource for finding secondary literature, including the latest scholarly journal articles in the field.

  11. Primary vs. Secondary

    Secondary Sources are one step removed from primary sources, though they often quote or otherwise use primary sources. They can cover the same topic, but add a layer of interpretation and analysis. ... Biography: Letters : Dissertation: Performance : Review of play: Poem : Treatise on a particular genre of poetry: Treaty : Essay on a treaty .

  12. Primary Sources/Secondary Sources

    Primary sources provide the raw data you use to support your arguments. Some common types of primary resources include manuscripts, diaries, court cases, maps, data sets, experiment results, news stories, polls, or original research. In many cases what makes a primary resource is contextual.

  13. Secondary Sources

    Secondary sources are books, periodicals, web sites, etc. that people write using the information from primary sources. They are not written by eyewitnesses to events, for instance, but use eyewitness accounts, photographs, diaries and other primary sources to reconstruct events or to support a writer's thesis about the events and their meaning.

  14. Secondary Sources of History

    In a secondary source, a nonparticipant will analyze and interpret events throughout history, building upon existing works and contributing their own thoughts and research. The key difference between an autobiography and biography is firsthand experience—secondary sources are often derived from an interpretation of primary sources.

  15. Background and Context/Biography

    For more recent sources (post-1975) use History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Harvard login). For new primary works (new editions, etc.) put your person in the author field. For new secondary works, put your person in the Subject field. Dictionary of American medical biography, ed. by M. Kaufman, S. Galishoff & T. L. Savitt. 2 v ...

  16. Identifying Primary and Secondary Sources

    A secondary source, in contrast, lacks the immediacy of a primary record. As materials produced sometime after an event happened, they contain information that has been interpreted, commented, analyzed or processed in such a way that it no longer conveys the freshness of the original. ... biography of publisher Katharine Meyer Graham law review ...

  17. Primary vs Secondary Sources

    Secondary sources offer the interpretations, summaries, or commentary of other researchers on primary source materials. Examples of secondary sources include reviews, textbooks, and journal articles. ... Any time a biography or other source is used, it must be accompanied by a citation and reference entry to avoid plagiarism. Is a newspaper ...

  18. Secondary Sources

    Periodical indexes for general historical secondary sources are listed in Library Research Guide for History.. Bibliographies of Secondary Books and Articles. Look for specialized subject bibliographies in HOLLIS or WorldCat: Search <"science and society" [Keyword search] and bibliography [Subject Keyword search]> on Expanded Search screen in HOLLIS Classic or the Advanced search screen in ...

  19. Library: Primary and Secondary Sources: Secondary Sources

    A secondary source is one that was created later by someone that did not experience firsthand or participate in the events in which the author is writing about. Secondary sources often summarize, interpret, analyze or comment on information found in primary sources. Common examples of secondary sources include: Books. Biographies.

  20. Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

    Sources of information or evidence are often categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary material. These classifications are based on the originality of the material and the proximity of the source or origin. This informs the reader as to whether the author is reporting information that is first hand or is conveying the experiences and ...

  21. Biographical sources

    American National Biography Online A standard source for U.S. historical biography with over 17,000 individual entries. The ANB Online is fully searchable and includes illustrations, cross-references, and links to external web sites. African-American Biographical Database Includes biographies of thousands of African Americans from 1790-1950.

  22. Biographies

    Biographies. Use a biography when you are looking for facts and accounts about notable people. An autobiography is a biography in which the author writes about his or her own life. Many biographies focus on one person.Some are collective biographies which have information about multiple people. Some collective biographies are subject specific ...