Historical source
Historical sourcesencompass "every kind of evidence that human beings have left of their past activities — the written word and spoken word, the shape of the landscape and the material artefact, the fine arts as well as photography and film."[1]
While the range of potential historical sources has expanded to include many non-documentary sources, nevertheless "the study of history has nearly always been based squarely on what the historian can read in documents or hear from informants".[2]
Historical sources are usually divided into primary and secondary, though some historians also refer to tertiary sources.
Types[edit]
Primary source[edit]
In the study ofhistoryas an academic discipline, a "primary source" (also called an "original source" ) is a first hand account of events by someone who lived through them. "Primary sources were made during the historical period that is being investigated."[3]
Secondary source[edit]
Inscholarship,asecondary source[4][5]is adocumentor recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere.
A secondary source is one that gives information about a primary source. In a secondary source, the original information is selected, modified and arranged in a suitable format. Secondary sources involvegeneralization,analysis,interpretation, orevaluationof the original information.
Tertiary source[edit]
Atertiary sourceis an index or textual consolidation of already publishedprimaryandsecondary sources[6]that does not provide additional interpretations or analysis of the sources.[7][8]Some tertiary sources can be used as an aid to find key (seminal) sources, key terms, generalcommon knowledge[9]and establishedmainstream scienceon a topic. The exact definition oftertiaryvaries byacademic field.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Tosh, John. 1999.The Pursuit of History.3rd Ed. Longman. p. 36
- ^Tosh, John. 1999.The Pursuit of History.3rd Ed. Longman. p. 37
- ^https://www.historyskills.com/source-criticism/analysis/source-kind-and-type/
- ^"Primary, secondary and tertiary sources".University Libraries, University of Maryland.
- ^"Secondary sourcesArchived2014-11-06 at theWayback Machine".James Cook University.
- ^Primary, secondary and tertiary sources.Archived2013-07-03 at theWayback Machine".University Libraries, University of Maryland. Retrieve 07/26/2013
- ^"Tertiary Information Sources".Old Dominion University -- ODU Libraries. September 2012.Retrieved20 June2013.
- ^"Tertiary sourcesArchived2014-11-06 at theWayback Machine".James Cook University.
- ^"Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Resources".University of New Haven.
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