On this page you can find the answers to these questions:
What Are Primary Sources? - a definition and a video tutorial
How Do I Distinguish Between a Primary, a Secondary Source, and a Tertiary Source?
How Should I Compare Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources Across Disciplines?
What Keywords Should I Use? - the keywords to use when searching for primary sources
What Questions Should I Ask? -these can help you decide whether a source is primary or secondary
Where Can I Find Primary Sources on the Web or in Databases? - see the Primary Sources on the Web and OHS Databases with Primary Sources.
Primary sources are “first hand”accounts of an event, an occurrence, or a time period produced by a participant or observer at the time, or shortly thereafter. They can be published or unpublished. |
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Typically, primary sources include: Unique documents or manuscripts - letters, diaries, journals, writings, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, etc. Historic records of an organization - correspondence, memoranda, minutes, annual reports, etc. Government documents - records, maps, and statistical data Artwork and artifacts Music and audiovisual materials - film, audio and video tape Speeches and oral histories - printed transcripts or audio recordings Photographs and advertisements Electronic computer files - including emails This tutorial from the David L. Rice Library will help you determine the differences among primary, secondary, and tertiary sources and shows examples for each type of source.
"David L. Rice Library Tutorials: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources." |
Primary sources are the surviving original records of a period, eyewitness accounts and first-published documentation of new information. |
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Examples of primary sources include:
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Gardner, Ella. Public Dance Halls, Their Regulation and
Place in the Recreation of Adolescents. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1929. Accessed November 20, 2015. doi:musdi205http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/musdi.205. |
Secondary sources interpret the past and analyze primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include:
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Martin, Carol. "Legislation Relevant to Dance Marathons." Appendix to Dance Marathons: Performing American Culture of the 1920s and 1930s, 147-60. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1994. Accessed November 20, 2015. Questia School.
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Tertiary sources are distillations and indexes of primary and secondary sources. Examples of tertiary sources include:
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"'Fads and Crazes.'" Topic Overview to 1920-1929., edited by Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 3 American Decades. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2001. Accessed November 20, 2015.
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NoodleTools Inc. "[All Styles] How Do I Distinguish between a Primary Source, a Secondary Source and a Tertiary Source?" In KnowledgeBase, by |
SUBJECT |
PRIMARY |
SECONDARY |
TERTIARY |
Art and |
Painting by Manet |
Article critiquing art piece |
ArtStor database |
Chemistry/Life |
Einstein's diary |
Monograph on Einstein's life |
Dictionary on Theory of Relativity |
Engineering/ |
Patent |
NTIS database |
User's Manual |
Humanities |
Letters by Dr. Martin Luther |
Web site on King's writings |
Encyclopedia on Civil Rights Movement |
Social Sciences |
Notes taken by clinical psychologist |
Magazine article about the psychological condition |
Textbook on clinical psychology |
Performing Arts |
Movie filmed in 1942 |
Biography of the director |
Guide to the movie |
Teaching and Learning Services. "Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources." University of Maryland Libraries. Last modified February 3, 2014. Accessed
November 20, 2015. http://www.lib.umd.edu/tl/guides/primary-sources.
Using Primary Sources on the Web
Advice on finding, evaluating, and using primary sources on the Internet, from the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) division of the American Library Association.
See the box below for suggestions on what keywords to use when searching WSA databases for primary sources. For use at home, please consult the OHS Database Descriptions & Passwords page for passwords (you must be signed into your FCPS Google account to access).
OHS Databases with Primary Sources |
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Using the General Keyword search box - type in your topic plus one of the following words or phrases:
Archive Source*
Correspondence
Diar* (this retrieves both
Diary and Diaries)
History Archive*
History Document*
History Source*
Interview*
Letter*
Personal Narrative*
Primary source*
Speech*
Note: Use of the * at the end of a word will search for both singular and plural forms.
In the Arts:
1. Was the source created during the time period you're studying? If the answer is yes, you are looking at a primary source.
2. Is it an object from a particular time in history? (Archie Bunker's chair? An Emily Dickinson poem?) This also counts as a primary source.
3. Was the source written after an event took place? If so, it is a secondary source.
In the Sciences:
1. Is the source reporting original research?
2. Did the author(s) carry out this original research?
If the answer to the two above questions is yes, it is a primary source.
Based on the How Do I...: Find Primary Sources guide created by the librarians at the CORE Library of the Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies in Phoenix, Arizona.
The librarian is always happy to help you!
In Person - during library hours,
6:30 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., Monday - Friday
Or Sign Up for Connections (before 8:30AM daily)
240-236-8616 - during library hours
By Email - charlotte.thompson@fcps.org