1.6 Types of sources

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You may be directed to use only primary sources for your assignment...

...while other assignments might require use of both primary and secondary sources.

Information sources can be regarded as primary or secondary depending on their:

• originality
• proximity to the source or event.

Primary sources come directly from the source or person. They are original materials, which have not been filtered through interpretation.

For example:

• patents
• statistics, interviews and surveys
• autobiographies, diaries and original writing
• journal articles (when discussing original ideas or reporting original research)
• books (when discussing original ideas or reporting original research)
• newspaper articles (when written at the time of an event)
• artefacts such as furniture, buildings, tools and clothes
• photographs, music and art work
• statutes and law reports.

Secondary sources analyse, interpret and comment on primary information.

For example:

• biographies
• journal articles (when they report or summarise the findings of others)
• books (when the material is drawn from other work and intended as a topic overview or summary)
• newspaper articles (when offering commentary or opinions)
• literature reviews
• encyclopaedias
• dictionaries.

The terms primary and secondary may have a discipline specific meaning. If you are in doubt, check with your tutor.

Why bother to make the distinction?

Distinguishing between types of sources enables critical evaluations to be made about the information. When information is four or five times removed from the source, it is easy for detail to be lost or ideas misinterpreted.

Most scholarly research is based on primary sources because it generates more accurate and efficient research.

Activity

Test your understanding of primary and secondary sources

The University of Utah has developed an activity to demonstrate that the primary or secondary nature of a source is dependent upon the problem you have been assigned. [Macromedia Flash file: 2 mins. approx.]

You are now sharpening your focus by selecting your sources. But which publication type will ensure the information is current and appropriate to your information need?