Primary Sources
- A document or artistic work, speech, video or image
- First hand evidence of an event, person or item
- Created close to the time of a referenced event
Primary Sources Include
- Written, audio or video account by an eyewitness
- A report written close to the time of an incident
- An artistic creation such as a poem, play, painting, dance, piece of music or other performance
- Materials such as diaries, letters, postcards, or advertisements
- Scientific and statistical evidence, case studies
- Maps and photographs
- Patents, architectural and schematic drawings or models
Secondary Sources
- Describe, summarize or analyze information
- Discuss information originally presented elsewhere
- Second-hand account written after an event
- Utilize primary sources
- Are usually written by "experts"
Secondary Sources Include
- Reviews of a performance or object
- Articles that interpret or review research works
- Books excluding autobiographies and memoirs
Tertiary Sources
- Based upon or summarize secondary sources
- Usually don't utilize primary sources
- No original research by the author(s)
- Usually have "editors" rather than "authors"
Tertiary Sources Include
- Dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, textbooks
- Directories and almanacs
- Guidebooks and manuals
- Chronologies and abstracts
