Are original or creative materials from the time period in which they were created. Present new findings, methods, studies, works of art/performance, new knowledge.
Diaries Maps First hand accounts Autobiographies Artifacts Music Correspondence Interviews Research
Books Autobiographies, Diaries, Memoirs, First hand accounts, Plays, Poems, Novels Microtext Databases Music Archives Artifacts Digital Collections Photographs Newspapers Journals
Literature Biology Art Music History Psychology Nursing Education Social Work Novel Research study Original painting Original composition or performance Diary Research study
are written at a later time period. Review, criticize, summarize, discuss, comment on original research or works of art/performance Do not present new independent findings, studies, works, etc.
Articles in journals that discuss, synthesize, summarize, critique the information in primary sources. Books that interpret, assess, evaluate,etc. the information/findings in primary sources. Bibliographies (also tertiary) Biographies Criticisms Histories Web sites Textbooks (also tertiary) Encyclopedias (also tertiary)
Literature Biology Art Music History Psychology,Nursing, Education,Social Work Criticism of a novel Article that reviews or summarizes a research study Critique of painting Review of performance Description of the diary Discussion or summary of the research study.
Summarize or distill secondary and/or primary sources. Tertiary sources may vary by discipline.
Literature Biology Art Music History Psychology Nursing Education Social Work Cyclopedia of literary characters Biology textbook Grove dictionary of art The violin: a research and reference guide Bibliographies in American history Psychology textbook Physicians desk reference Bilingual Education: a reference handbook Encyclopedia of Social Work
Primary: Newspaper articles, weekly news magazines, monthly magazines, diaries, correspondence, diplomatic records. Secondary: Articles in scholarly journals analyzing the war, possibly footnoting primary documents; books analyzing the war. Tertiary: Historical Dictionary of Vietnam ; The Vietnam War, An Almanac UNC Wilmington | Randall Library
Primary: Novels, poems, plays, diaries, correspondence. Secondary: Articles in scholarly journals analyzing the literature; books analyzing the literature; formal biographies of writers of the war. Tertiary: Writing About Vietnam; A Bibliography of the Literature of the Vietnam Conflict; Dictionary of Literary Biography UNC Wilmington | Randall Library
Primary: Article in a magazine that reports research and its methodology; notes taken by a clinical psychologist. Secondary: Articles in scholarly publications synthesizing results of original research; books analyzing results of original research. Tertiary: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology UNC Wilmington | Randall Library
Primary: Article in a journal reporting research and methodology. Secondary: Articles in scholarly publications synthesizing results of original research; books doing the same. Tertiary: Agent Orange and Vietnam: An Annotated Bibliography UNC Wilmington | Randall Library
Definition of primary, secondary, tertiary sources will vary depending upon the subject area. Depending upon the subject area, a source can be considered both primary and secondary…..or secondary and tertiary. When is doubt, ask.
A magazine article reporting on recent studies linking the reduction of energy consumption to the compact fluorescent light bulb would be a secondary source. A research article or study proving this would be a primary source. However, if you were studying how compact fluorescent light bulbs are presented in the popular media, the magazine article could be considered a primary source. UNC Wilmington | Randall Library