JKM Library: Primary Sources: Introduction to Primary Sources

	: Fall 2024 Hours

What are Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources?

Primary sources are defined, here, by the American Library Association:

"Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories…. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research."

--Using Primary Sources on the Web

Primary sources are used within the humanities and social sciences as well as in the sciences. In the field of science, a primary source could be an original report of an experiment, observation or finding.

Examples of primary sources:

Government documents such as The Constitution of the United States
Creative works such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale
Clothing and textiles like this Dior evening dress
Letter and diaries such as The Diary of Anne Frank
Objects and artifacts like this early 20th century glass preserving jar
Architecture and landscapes such as the U.S. Steel Building or this 18th century home in Salem, Massachusetts
Photographs and posters like this portrait of an early graduate of the Pennsylvania Female College
Period newspapers, magazines, and advertising like this 1889 issue of The Pittsburg Dispatch
Period books like this 19th century medical text
Music and other audio recording like these wax cylinder recordings
Motion pictures such as this 1951 educational film Soapy the Germ Fighter
Manuscripts and archival records such as the Edith Wharton Collection at the Beinecke
Plant, animal, and mineral specimens like this dried chrysanthemum preserved by the Linnean Society
Emphemera such as this historic New Orleans restaurant menu.
Legal documentation such as patents.
Scientific documentation in the form of technical reports, scientific dissertations or theses, proceedings from a scientific conference or meeting, and research studies.

Secondary sources summarize, analyze, and interpret the evidence derived from primary sources. Secondary sources provide factual context or interpretive framework for analysis. Examples of secondary sources are:

textbooks
documentaries
book and film reviews
journal and magazine articles
biographies
academic books
annotations or commentaries on primary sources

Tertiary resources provide an overview, summary, or index of a topic and may contain both primary and secondary sources. Tertiary sources do not include analysis or critique, but are useful for finding background information on a topic (names, dates, definitions, etc.) and can point to other relevant resources. Examples of tertiary resources are: