Wikipedia talk:Identifying and using primary sources: Difference between revisions
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:::As for " a secondary source is a work of the mind", that's not always true, and a primary source is often a work of the mind as well. Research papers drawing conclusions about the results of an experiment, for example, as primary sources the way we look at it, while an analytical paper drawing conclusions across a number of research papers would be a secondary source, but equally a work of the mind.
:::In regard to temporal separation, it is not so simple as you make out. A report from 1901 about an event in 1601 we would generally take as a primary source for what people in the early 20th century held about that event, but not as a secondary source for the event in 1601. For that we would look for more recent historical works, as we assume that historians build upon one another's work.
:Will, I don't have time to look at that article right now, but I'd be happy to later. If you'd like to identify the couple of sources you consider to be the most important for the article, that would save me some time.
:Nuujinn, I have never seen an article (not a paid advertisement) marked "press release" in a printed newspaper. Have you? Note that I'm not talking about something merely appearing on a website: actual ink on newsprint.
:Also, your claim that quoting someone else makes your paper secondary is simply wrong. Reprinting someone else's words does not magically transform your publication into a secondary source. (And if someone reprinted yours, would that be tertiary? And when I cite that third source, do you propose making up names for the classification?) The policy is trying to provide a simple overview. It says "second-hard" to indicate a significant degree of separation, not to imply that [[WP:Secondary does not mean independent|secondary is a fancy way to spell independent]]. If you post X on your blog, then your blog post is a primary source for your words. If I quote your post, my quotation is ''also'' a primary source for your words (but now an ''independent'' primary source).
:Please: go read real sources about this subject. A number of them are linked above, but there are even more detailed sources available. [[User:WhatamIdoing|WhatamIdoing]] ([[User talk:WhatamIdoing|talk]]) 16:05, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
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