Secondary source

In library and information science, historiography and other areas of scholarship, a secondary source [ [http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources, UM Libraries] ] [ [http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml JCU - Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources] ] is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being discussed. Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, and some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used. [Citation
last=Kragh
first=Helge
title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science
year=1989
publisher=Cambridge University Press
isbn=0521389216
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&source=web&ots=9v7A99Rzbf&sig=jNrIeEdaovpKIuX_jD9KlrGO2-4
page=121 (" [T] he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); Citation
last1=Delgadillo
first1=Roberto
last2=Lynch
first2=Beverly
title=Future Historians: Their Quest for Information
url=http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1999b/may99/delgadillo.pdf
journal=College & Research Libraries
year=1999
pages=245–259, at 253 (" [T] he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); Citation
last1=Monagahn
first1=E.J.
last2=Hartman
first2=D.K.
year=2001
title=Historical research in literacy
journal=Reading Online
volume=4
issue=11
url=http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html (" [A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").] An even higher level, the tertiary source, resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis, but attempts to provide a broad overview of a topic that is accessible to newcomers.

ource classification

Many sources can be considered either primary and secondary, depending on the context in which they are used. [Harvnb|Kragh|1989|p=121.] Moreover, the distinction between "primary" and "secondary" sources is subjective and contextual, [Harvnb|Dalton|Charnigo|2004|p=419 n.18.] so that precise definitions are difficult to make. [Harvnb|Delgadillo|Lynch|1999|p=253.] For example, if a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion, but a secondary source of information found in the old documents.Fact|date=January 2008 Other examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary [Citation
last=Duffin
first=Jacalyn
title=History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=__oDQ6yDO7kC&pg=PA366&dq=%22secondary+source%22+historiography&sig=MqWo5GYrCqprFLY9ZZNVJ06CHcs
year=1999
publisher=University of Toronto Press
isbn=0802079121
page=366.] or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on a certain topic. [Id. at 366.]

Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field. [Citation
last=Henige
first=David
authorlink=David Henige
title=Primary Source by Primary Source? On the Role of Epidemics in New World Depopulation
journal=Ethnohistory
volume=33
issue=3
year=1986
pages=292–312, at 292
doi=10.2307/481816 (" [T] he term 'primary' inevitably carries a relative meaning insofar as it defines those pieces of information that stand in closest relationship to an event or process "in the present state of our knowledge". Indeed, in most instances the very nature of a primary source tells us that it is actually derivative.… [H] istorians have no choice but to regard certain of the available sources as 'primary' since they are as near to truly original sources as they can now secure.").] For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source, but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary". [Harvnb|Henige|1986|p=292.]

Attempts to map or model scientific and scholarly communication need the concepts of primary, secondary and further "levels". One such model is the UNISIST model of information dissemination. Within such a model these concepts are defined in relation to each other, and the acceptance of this way of defining the concepts are connected to the acceptance of the model.

Other languages, like German, call the secondary sources "Sekundärliteratur", leaving "Sekundärquelle" to historiography. A "Sekundärquelle" is a source that can tell about a (lost) "Primärquelle", e.g. a letter is quoting from minutes that no longer exist and can not be consulted by the historian.

Typical secondary sources in various fields

Historiography and historical scholarship

The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing.Fact|date=November 2007 In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources. [Helge (1989), p. 121.] In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources." [Citation
last=Cipolla
first=Carlo M.
title=Between Two Cultures:An Introduction to Economic History
page=27
publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.
year=1992
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GIqRTlepwmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cipolla&sig=JzRVCCjEZperMP0D1yyRewHRMUU#PPA27,M1.] Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.Fact|date=November 2007

As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.Fact|date=November 2007

Library and information science

In library and information sciences, secondary sources are generally regarded as those sources that summarize or add commentary to primary sources in the context of the particular information or idea under study. [ [http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-sources.html "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] ] [ [http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] ]

econdary sources in family history

"A secondary source is a record or statement of an event or circumstance made by a non-eyewitness or by someone not closely connected with the event or circumstances, recorded or stated verbally either at or sometime after the event, or by an eye-witness at a time after the event when the fallibility of memory is an important factor." [Harland] Consequently, an autobiography written after the event is a secondary source, even though it may be the first published description of an event. For example, many first hand accounts of events in the 1st world war that were written in the post war years were influenced by the then prevailing perception of the war which was significantly different from contemporary opinion. [Holmes, particularly the introduction]

econdary legal sources

In the legal field, source classification is important because the persuasiveness of a source usually depends upon its history. Primary sources may include cases, constitutions, statutes, administrative regulations, and other sources of binding legal authority, while secondary legal sources may include books, articles, and encyclopedias. [Citation
last=Bouchoux
first=Deborah E.
year=2000
title=Cite Checker: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Citation Form
page=45
publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning
isbn=0766818934
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RJ4vlBrWu0MC&pg=PA45&dq=%22primary+sources%22+%22science+citation%22&as_brr=3&sig=75RwFqQHgKs49LHcbhnE1M4RHw0.] Legal writers usually prefer to cite primary sources because only primary sources are authoritative and precedential, while secondary sources are only persuasive at best. [Harvnb|Bouchoux|2000|p=45.]

econdary sources of scientific and mathematical ideas and data

Source classification is a useful tool for tracing the history of scientific and mathematical ideas, including who is credited as the primary source of the idea and how it has been propagated. A review article is an example of such a secondary source, and some scientific journals only publish review articles.

One important use of secondary sources in the field of mathematics has been to make difficult mathematical ideas and proofs from primary sources more accessible to the public. [Citation
last=Edwards
first=H.M.
title=Riemann's Zeta Function
year=2001
publisher=Courier Dover Publications
publication-place=Mineola, New York
isbn=0486417409
page=xi
url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5uLAoued_dIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=%22primary+sources%22&ots=7oa5CJbdM6&sig=BQUGAAJ7dwrZOinVOvYpzkkMjNo#PPR11,M1 ("The purpose of a secondary source is to make the primary sources accessible to you. If you can read and understand the primary sources without reading this book, more power to you. If you read this book without reading the primary sources you are like a man who carries a sack lunch to a banquet.").]

ee also

*Source text
*Primary source
*Tertiary source

References

* Jules R. Benjamin. "A Student's Guide to History" (2003)
* Edward H. Carr, "What is History?" (New York: Vintage Books, 1961).
* Wood Gray, "Historian's handbook, a key to the study and writing of history" (Houghton Mifflin, 1964).
*Derek Harland, "A Basic Course in Genealogy: Volume two, Research Procedure and Evaluation of Evidence", (Bookcraft Inc, 1958)
* Richard Holmes. "Tommy" (HarperCollins, 2004)
* Martha C. Howell and Walter Prevenier. "From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods" (2001)
* Richard A. Marius and Melvin E. Page. "A Short Guide to Writing About History" (5th Edition) (2004)
* Hayden White, "Metahistory: the historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe" (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973).

Notes

Further reading

* [http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/primary.html Primary and secondary sources]