Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources for Research

A primary source is a record of a person, event, or occurrence that was created by an eye-witness or participant's version of an event. A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study.  According to the Library of Congress, "Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience."  Types of primary sources include:
       
                   memoirs and diaries              government documents                      personal narratives
                         letters                                         autobiographies                                    oral histories
                         interviews                                  news film footage                                 journal articles with original research results
                         manuscripts                             original maps                                        newspaper articles (from the time of the event)
                         archival records                       sound recordings and movies      
                         speeches                                  works of literature ( poetry, fiction)                                                                                    
                                                                                            
 Use these terms as search terms in the library catalog and in library databases to access primary sources. 

Secondary sources are created by persons who were not direct participants in an event. The author of a  secondary source interprets, explains and analyzes primary sources not personally witnessed or participated in by the author. Secondary sources are one or more steps removed from the event.  Secondary sources can be found in books, journals, or Internet resources. Secondary sources include sources with published scholarship on a subject, rather than supplementary material found in dictionaries or encyclopedias.  Supplementary materials are often referred to as tertiary sources.  Types of secondary sources include:                    

                         biographies                           newspaper articles on events after the fact               journal review articles
                         literary criticism                     book, art, and theatre reviews                                      literature reviews
                         textbooks                                magazine articles                                                           atlases                                                     
                        

Use these terms as search terms in the library catalog and in library databases to facilitate access to secondary sources.

A tertiary source presents summaries or short versions of materials, usually with references back to the primary and/or secondary sources. They are useful supplementary sources which can be used  to look up facts or get a general overview of a topic.  Types of tertiary sources include:

                                dictionaries                       textbooks (may also be secondary)                 almanacs
                                encyclopedias                  directories                                                             handbooks 
                                guidebooks                       compilations                                                        indexes
                                abstracts                    bibliographies                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Use these terms as search terms in the library catalog and in library databases  to access tertiary sources.