What is the difference between a primary, secondary, or tertiary source?
Historians define Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources differently depending on the context surrounding their usage, their mode of creation, and their disciplinary focus. As a rule of thumb, definitions relate to how close the source is to the original event.
Some guidelines to follow when identifying sources:
- Primary Sources
- Record first-person accounts of events (diaries, interviews)
- Contain original data from research conducted by the authors
- Share research or ideas that influence a new direction in the discipline (seminal text)
- Secondary Sources
- Relay second-person accounts of events (historiography)
- Include supplementary information gathered from many other authors
- Analyze the thoughts or research of other authors
- Tertiary Sources
- Summarize first- and second- person accounts of events (encyclopedias, dictionaries)
- Present an overview of information
- Includes most reference texts