Source text

A source text [ [http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries] ] [ [http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources] ] is a text (sometimes oral) from which information or ideas are derived. In translation, a source text is the original text that is to be translated into another language.

Description

In historiography, distinctions are commonly made between three kinds of source texts:

Primary

Primary sources are firsthand written evidence of history made at the time of the event by someone who was present. They have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study. [ [http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] ] [ [http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] ] These types of sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study." [Citation
last1=Dalton
first1=Margaret Steig
last2=Charnigo
first2=Laurie
title=Historians and Their Information Sources
url=http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/crl2004/crlseptember/dalton.pdf
pages=400–25, at 416 n.3
journal=College & Research Libraries
volume=September
year=2004, citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), "Occupational Outlook Handbook"; Citation
last=Lorenz
first=C.
contribution=History: Theories and Methods
volume=10
page=6871
editor-last1=Smelser
editor-first1=Neil J.
editor-last2=Bates
editor-first2=Paul B.
title=International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences
publisher=Elsevier
publication-place=Amsterdam
year=2001.] Primary sources are sources which, usually, are recorded by someone who participated in, witnessed, or lived through the event. These are also usually authoritative and fundamental documents concerning the subject under consideration. This includes published original accounts, published original works, or published original research. They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere. [Citation
last=Duff
first=Alistair
title=The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction
journal=Library Review
year=1996
volume=45
issue=4
pages=14–18
doi=10.1108/00242539610115263 ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").] They have been distinguished from secondary sources, which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources. [Handlin (1954) 118-246] They serve as an original source of information or new ideas about the topic. "Primary" and "secondary", however, are relative terms, and any given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used. [Citation
last=Kragh
first=Helge
title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science
year=1989
publisher=Cambridge University Press
isbn=0521389216
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4
page=121 (" [T] he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Citation
last1=Delgadillo
first1=Roberto
last2=Lynch
first2=Beverly
title=Future Historians: Their Quest for Information
url=http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf
journal=College & Research Libraries
year=1999
pages=245–259, at 253 (" [T] he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Citation
last1=Monagahn
first1=E.J.
last2=Hartman
first2=D.K.
year=2001
title=Historical research in literacy
journal=Reading Online
volume=4
issue=11
url=http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html (" [A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").] Physical objects can be primary sources.

econdary and Tertiary

Secondary sources are written accounts of history based upon the evidence from primary sources. These are sources which, usually, are accounts, works, or research that analyze, assimilate, evaluate, interpret, and/or synthesize primary sources. These are not as authoritative and are supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These documents or people summarize other material, usually primary source material. They are academics, journalists, and other researchers, and the papers and books they produce. This includes published accounts, published works, or published research. For example a history book drawing upon diary and newspaper records.

Tertiary sources are compilations based upon primary and secondary sources. [See, e.g., University of Maryland Libraries (2001) [http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html#tertiary "Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources"] ] [See, e.g. [http://www.lib.odu.edu/libassist/tutorials/nursing/glossary.html Glossary, Using Information Resources] . ("Tertiary Source" is defined as "reference material that synthesizes work already reported in primary or secondary sources".) ] [ [http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] ] These are sources which, on average, do not fall into the above two levels. They consist of generalized research of a specific subject under consideration. Tertiary sources are analyzed, assimilated, evaluated, interpreted, and/or synthesized from secondary sources, also. These are not authoritative and are just supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These are often meant to present known information in a convenient form with no claim to originality. Common examples are encyclopedias and textbooks.

The distinction between "primary source" and "secondary source" is standard in historiography, while the distinction between these sources and "tertiary sources" is more peripheral, and is more relevant to the scholarly research work than to the published content itself.

"Types"

Below are types of sources that most generally, but not absolutely, fall into a certain level. The letters after an item describes "generally" the type it is (though this can vary pending the exact source). "P" is for Primary sources, "S" is for Secondary sources, and "T" is for Tertiary sources. (ed., those with "?"s are indeterminate.)

* Published Documents"(?)"
** Maps"(?)"
** Literature"(?)"
*** Autobiographies "(P)"
*** Biographies "(S)"
*** Poems"(?)"
*** Books"(?)"
*** Magazines "(T)"
*** Newspaper articles "(S)"
*** Pamphlets "(T)"
*** Posters "(P)"
** Advertisements "(P)"
** Research "(P)"
*** Peer Journals "(S)"
* Non-government documents"(?)"
** Organization papers "(P)"
* Government documents "(P)"
** Public records "(P)"
** Voter lists "(?)"
** Police records "(?)"
** Court records "(?)"
** Court hearings "(?)"
** Court proceedings "(?)"
** Tax accounts"(?)"
** Census data and records "(P)"
** Classified documents "(P)"
** Laws "(P)"
** Treaties "(P)"
** Court decisions "(P)"
* Unpublished Documents"(?)"
** Personal papers "(P)"
*** Letters "(P)"
*** Diaries "(P)"
*** Journals "(P)"
*** Wills "(P)"
** Research"(?)"
*** Surveys"(?)"
*** Fieldwork"(?)"
** Reports"(?)"
** Speeches"(P)"
** Interviews"(?)"
** Membership records"(?)"
** Meeting transcripts"(?)"
** Financial accounts"(?)"

ee also

*Text
*Source (disambiguation)
*Journalism sourcing
*Wikisource

References and notes