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==How to classify a source==
Imagine that an army conquered a small country 200 years ago, and you have threethe following sources:
* a proclamation of victory written at the time of the conquest,
* a bookdiary written 150by yearssomeone later,who basedlived onat the proclamation,time and talks about it
* ana encyclopedia entrybook written last150 yearyears later, basedthat onanalyzes the book.proclamation
* an academic journal article written two years ago that examines the diary
* an encyclopedia entry written last year, that is based on both the book and the journal.
TheBoth the proclamation isand athe diary are [[primary source]]s. ThisThese primary sourcesources hashave advantages: itthey were happenedwritten at the time, and so isare free of the opinions and fictions imposed by later generations. ItThey also hashave disadvantages: itthe proclemation might contain [[propaganda]] designed to pacify the conquered country, or omit politically inconvenient facts, or overstate the importance of other facts, or be designed to stroke the new ruler's ego. ItsThe diary will reflect the prejudices of its author, and its authorsauthor might be unaware of relevant facts.
The book isand the Journal article are a [[secondary source]]s. ThisThese secondary sourcesources hashave advantages: The authorauthors waswere not involved in the event, so hethey hashave the emotional distance that allows himthem to analyze the events dispassionately. ItThey also hashave disadvantages: HeThe authors isare writing about what other people said they didhappened, and cannot use histheir own experience to correct any errors or omissions. HeThe authors may be unable to see clearly through histheir own cultural lens, and the result may be that hethey unconsciously emphasizes things important to histheir culturecultures and timetimes, while overlooking things important to the actual actors.
The encyclopedia article is a [[tertiary source]]. It has advantages: it summarizes information. It also has disadvantages: in relying on the secondary source, the encyclopedia article will repeat, and may accidentally amplify, any distortions or errors in that source. It may also add its own interpretation.
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