Wikipedia:Identifying and using primary sources: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:03, 30 August 2023

Revision as of 14:09, 28 September 2023

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* "[It is not] always easy to distinguish primary from secondary sources. A newspaper article is a primary source if it reports events, but a secondary source if it analyses and comments on those events".<ref>{{cite web |title=Primary, secondary and tertiary sources: Secondary |publisher=James Cook University |website=libguides.jcu.edu.au |___location=Queensland, Australia |url= https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/scholarly-sources/secondary |access-date=October 22, 2020}}</ref>

* "In the humanities, age is an important factor in determining whether an article is a primary or secondary source. A recently published journal or newspaper article on the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' Supreme Court case would be read as a secondary source, because the author is interpreting an historical event. An article on the case that was published in 1955 could be read as a primary source that reveals how writers were interpreting the decision immediately after it was handed down".<ref>{{cite web |title=Primary and Secondary Sources |date= |publisher=Ithaca College Library |url= https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170618033127/https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary |archive-date=June 18, 2017 |access-date=June 15, 2017}}</ref>

* "Characteristically, primary sources are contemporary to the events and people described [...] In writing a narrative of the political turmoil surrounding the 2000 U.S. presidential election, a researcher will likely tap newspaper reports of that time for factual information on the events. The researcher will use these reports as primary sources because they offer direct or firsthand evidence of the events, as they first took place".<ref>{{cite web |last=González |first=Luis A. |title=Identifying Primary and Secondary Sources |date=2014 |publisher=Indiana University Libraries |url= https://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/primarysources |url-status=live |access-date=March 18, 2021}}</ref>

* "There can be grey areas when determining if an item is a primary source or a secondary source&nbsp;.... Traditionally, however, newspapers are considered primary sources. The key, in most cases, is determining the origin of the document and its proximity to the actual event".<ref>{{cite web |last=Sanford |first=Emily |title=Primary and Secondary Sources: An Overview |date=2010 |publisher=Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan |url= http://bentley.umich.edu/refhome/primary/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110922081941/http://bentley.umich.edu/refhome/primary/ |archive-date=22 September 2011}}</ref>