Characteristics of Sources

A primary source is an information source created at the time of the event the source addresses. Examples of primary sources include:

• newspaper articles
• interviews
• original research published in scholarly journals
• photographs
• novels
• minute meetings
• legislation
• diaries
• autobiographies
• speeches
• letters
• video recordings of the actual event
• manuscripts
• blog posts
• podcasts
• eyewitness accounts
• maps
• objects from a specific time period or event

A current event news article is considered a primary source because no context has been added to the existing content.

Secondary sources are sources created after the fact of an event. Secondary sources are more analytic and provide context for primary sources and the events they encompass. Examples of secondary sources include:

• literary criticisms
• book reviews
• textbooks
• books with footnotes/endnotes
• biographies
• scholarly articles which borrow from previous research
• book reviews
• news articles (non-first hand accounts)
• magazines

This source utilizes other sources to create contextual content making it a secondary source.

Tertiary sources provide the facts of a subject/topic without commentary, interpretation, or critique. Examples of tertiary sources include:

• encyclopedias
• dictionaries
• factbooks
• overviews
• almanacs
• digests

An encyclopedia entry which defines or only provides factual information on a topic is an example of a tertiary source.