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Asource text[1][2]is atext(sometimesoral) from whichinformationor ideas are derived. Intranslation,a source text is the original text that is to be translated into anotherlanguage.
Description[edit]
Inhistoriography,distinctions are commonly made between three kinds of source texts:
Primary[edit]
Primary sourcesare firsthand written accounts made at thetimeof an event by someone who was present. They have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.[1][3]These types of sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."[4]Primary sources are sources which, usually, are recorded by someone who participated in, witnessed, or lived through the event. These are also usually authoritative and fundamental documents concerning the subject under consideration. This includes published original accounts, publishedoriginalworks, or published original research. They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.[5]They have been distinguished fromsecondary sources,which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.[6]They serve as an original source ofinformationor new ideas about the topic.Primaryandsecondary,however, are relative terms, and any given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.[7]Physical objects can be primary sources.
Secondary and tertiary[edit]
Secondary sourcesare written accounts of history based upon the evidence from primary sources. These are sources which, usually, are accounts, works, or research that analyze, assimilate, evaluate, interpret, and/or synthesize primary sources. These are not as authoritative and are supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These documents or people summarize other material, usually primary source material. They are academics, journalists, and other researchers, and the papers and books they produce. This includes published accounts, published works, or published research. For example, a history book drawing upon diary and newspaper records.
Tertiary sourcesare compilations based upon primary and secondary sources.[1][8][3]These are sources which, on average, do not fall into the above two levels. They consist of generalized research of a specific subject under consideration. Tertiary sources are analyzed, assimilated, evaluated, interpreted, and/or synthesized from secondary sources, also. These are not authoritative and are just supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These are often meant to present known information in a convenient form with no claim to originality. Common examples areencyclopediasandtextbooks.
The distinction betweenprimary sourceandsecondary sourceis standard inhistoriography,while the distinction between these sources andtertiary sourcesis more peripheral, and is more relevant to the scholarly research work than to the published content itself.
Below are types of sources that most generally, but not absolutely, fall into a certain level. The letters after an item describesgenerallythe type it is (though this can vary pending the exact source).Pis for Primary sources,Sis for Secondary sources, andTis for Tertiary sources. (ed., those with?s are indeterminate.)
- PublishedDocuments(?)
- Maps(?)
- Literature(?)
- Autobiographies(P)
- Biographies(S)
- Poems(?)
- Books(?)
- Magazines(T)
- Newspaperarticles(S)
- Pamphlets(T)
- Posters(P)
- Advertisements(P)
- Research(P)
- Non-government documents(?)
- Organizationpapers(P)
- Government documents(P)
- Public records(P)
- Voterlists(?)
- Policerecords(?)
- Courtrecords(?)
- Court hearings(?)
- Court proceedings(?)
- Taxaccounts(?)
- Censusdata and records(P)
- Classified documents(P)
- Laws(P)
- Treaties(P)
- Court decisions(P)
- Unpublished Documents(?)
- Personal papers(P)
- Research(?)
- Surveys(?)
- Fieldwork(?)
- Reports(?)
- Speeches(P)
- Interviews(?)
- Membership records(?)
- Meeting transcripts(?)
- Financial accounts(?)
Authoritative sources[edit]
A source that is official is called authoritative if it is known to be reliable and its authority or authenticity is widely recognized by experts in the field. Libraries specialize in collecting these types of resources so that students and faculty have the tools they need to research effectively.[9]
In translation[edit]
Intranslation,a source text (ST) is a text written in a givensource languagewhich is to be or has been, translated into another language. According toJeremy Munday's definition of translation, "the process of translation between two different written languages involves the changing of an original written text (the source text or ST) in the original verbal language (the source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal language (the target language or TL)".[10]The terms 'source text' and 'target text' are preferred over 'original' and 'translation' because they do not have the same positive vs. negative value judgment.
Translation scholars includingEugene NidaandPeter Newmarkhave represented the different approaches to translation as falling broadly into source-text-oriented or target-text-oriented categories.[11]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abc"Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources guide".University of Maryland Libraries. Archived fromthe originalon 3 July 2013.Retrieved12 July2013.
- ^JCU – Primary, Secondary & Tertiary SourcesArchived2005-02-12 at theWayback Machine
- ^ab"Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"Archived2005-02-12 at theWayback Machine
- ^Dalton, Margaret Steig; Charnigo, Laurie (2004),"Historians and Their Information Sources"(PDF),College & Research Libraries,September (5): 400–25, at 416 n.3,doi:10.5860/crl.65.5.400,citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003),Occupational Outlook Handbook;Lorenz, C. (2001), "History: Theories and Methods", in Smelser, Neil J.; Baltes, Paul B. (eds.),International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences,vol. 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 6871.
- ^Duff, Alistair (1996), "The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction",Library Review,45(4): 14–18,doi:10.1108/00242539610115263( "A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere." ).
- ^Handlin (1954) 118–246
- ^Kragh, Helge (1989),An Introduction to the Historiography of Science,Cambridge University Press, p. 121,ISBN0-521-38921-6,archivedfrom the original on 21 January 2018( "[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." );Delgadillo, Roberto; Lynch, Beverly (1999),"Future Historians: Their Quest for Information"(PDF),College & Research Libraries,60(3): 245–259, at 253,doi:10.5860/crl.60.3.245,archived(PDF)from the original on 4 March 2016( "[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing" );Monagahn, E.J.; Hartman, D.K. (2001),"Historical research in literacy",Reading Online,4(11),archivedfrom the original on 14 December 2007( "[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for." ).
- ^See, e.g.Glossary, Using Information ResourcesArchived2008-08-28 at theWayback Machine.( "Tertiary Source" is defined as "reference material that synthesizes work already reported in primary or secondary sources".)
- ^Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science,ABC-CLIO
- ^Munday, Jeremy(2016).Introducing Translation Studies: theories and applications (4th ed.).London/New York: Routledge. pp.8.ISBN978-1138912557.
- ^Munday, Jeremy (2016).Introducing Translation Studies: theories and applications (4th ed.).London/New York: Routledge. pp.67–74.ISBN978-1138912557.