Primary or Secondary?
It can be tricky to figure out if something is a primary source or not so don't worry if you get confused. Part of the confusion comes from the fact that whether or not something is a primary source can depend on your particular research question. We'll walk through a couple examples below.
Below the examples you'll find a table created by social sciences librarian Paul Campbell to help differentiate between the different types of sources.
Examples
Image shows front cover of the book, "Little Lessons for Little Learners: In Words of One Syllable," a textbook for young students published in 1853
Textbooks are generally identified as secondary sources because they compile information from other sources. However, if you are doing research on how late 19th century history textbooks taught the Civil War, those textbooks would become an important primary source in your research.
Image shows Black Lives Matter mural being painted on a street of Charlotte, North Carolina / Credit: Office of Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Similarly, primary sources do not have to date from the distant past. For example, if you are studying the Black Lives Matter movement you would look to messaging and activity on social media. Posts, images, video, etc. from people at protests or engaging in other acts of resistance or counter-resistance could be vital primary sources in your research.
Source Types (Primary, Seconday, Tertiary)
These sources are first-hand accounts of events or evidence without any interpretation, comments, or filter. Primary sources show the information, research, or event as the original material; they display original thought, or report on new discoveries, or share new information.
Examples:
- Newspaper article written at the time
- Diary or journal
- Research article that is not a review or summary (original research/data)
- Artifacts (fossils, coins, or buildings of another time)
- Email or original tweet/post (not a re-tweet or share)
- Scripts of plats or films
- Patents
- Photographs or maps or posters
- Interviews
- Works of art
- Video recordings or films
- Records and reports of organizations or conference proceedings
Secondary sources are reviews, accounts, summaries, or interpretations of the event or evidence (primary source) after they occurred. Normally these kinds of materials add comments or summarize events or evidence with some insight.
Examples:
- Review research article
- Books like biographies or about a historical event
- Commentaries
- Reviews or summaries
Tertiary sources distil primary and secondary sources. Think of them as a list or reference material or repackaging of an event, idea, or person in a more compact way.
Examples:
- Wikipedia and other dictionaries and encyclopedias (Could be considered secondary)
- Fact books
- Directories or manuals
- Textbooks