Scribd
Upload
55 views3 pages

2 Sourse of Information Primary: Reference Books

Primary sources are documents created at the time being researched about the event or person. Examples include letters, diaries, newspapers, and objects. Secondary sources are documents created later without direct connection to the event, such as reference books, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, maps, textbooks, monographs, and journal articles. These provide background information and direct researchers to primary sources but should not be cited directly in a research project. Popular magazines can also provide introductory information and ideas for topics.

Uploaded by

Maria Christine Santos
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
55 views3 pages

2 Sourse of Information Primary: Reference Books

Primary sources are documents created at the time being researched about the event or person. Examples include letters, diaries, newspapers, and objects. Secondary sources are documents created later without direct connection to the event, such as reference books, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, maps, textbooks, monographs, and journal articles. These provide background information and direct researchers to primary sources but should not be cited directly in a research project. Popular magazines can also provide introductory information and ideas for topics.

Uploaded by

Maria Christine Santos
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

2 Sourse of Information Primary

A primary source is a document created at the time of your research subject, about your research subject. These documents are directly connected with the events or people being researched

ExampLe :
Good examples of primary source documents are: Legal notices, letters, diaries, newspapers, maps, flags, important documents, clothes, and even furniture! More good examples are buildings, power sources and materials.These things are often fossilised or covered in mud.

Secondary
A secondary source is a document created at a later time than the event being researched, by someone who did not experience the said event. These documents have no direct connection with the events or people being researched.

Example :
REFERENCE BOOKS: Reference books are good starting points for basic information about your topic, but they are only that. They should not be included in your bibliography. Look for general information in: encyclopedias, special historical dictionaries, and historical atlases. General encyclopedias such as World Book can provide you with basic information, while subject encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies provide a bit more detailed

information. Encyclopedia articles often have bibliographies which can direct you to some of the major secondary sources for a topic. Biographical dictionaries are compilations of biographies of people selected because of their fame, accomplishments, membership in a particular group, or some other distinguishing characteristic. Each person's entry is a succinct summary of his or her life, often written by an expert. Atlases are compilations of maps. Maps created at the time of an event-such as battlefield maps created at the time of a battle-are primary sources, but maps created later, such as those tracing the migrations of Indian tribes, are secondary sources. POPULAR PERIODICAL LITERATURE Popular magazines, indexed in the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, can give you ideas for and some general information about particular topics. Many magazines and newspapers publish articles dealing with individuals or historical issues. For example, in the mid-1990s many U.S. newspapers and magazines wrote about Nelson Mandela, whose political activism helped revolutionize South African society by ending apartheid, and who became president of South Africa in 1994 after spending 28 years in prison for his politics. Starting a project on apartheid, you might begin here, and get ideas for interesting topics about the events that led to this revolution. HISTORY TEXTBOOKS Yes, really! Your textbook can be a great place to get ideas for topics and find out about the general context of your topic. If you're interested in the invention of the telescope as it revolutionized astronomy, first do some background reading on the scientific revolution as a whole, perhaps in a general textbook on European history.

This will help you understand how your topic fits in with the big picture. GENERAL HISTORICAL WORKS AND MONOGRAPHS Move from the general to the specific. A book on the history of astronomy will provide more detail than a general text on European history. Try a keyword search at a larger library and youll find dozens, if not hundreds, of books on the history of astronomy and related sciences. Another way to find secondary sources on your topic is to check the notes and bibliographies of books youve already found. And sometimes you might be able to find an entire book which is a bibliography on your topic; these books will be in the reference section, especially at university libraries. Monographs are full-length books dealing with a relatively narrow topic and typically are intended for people with some background in the subject. Monographs typically rely on primary sources and are well-documented, with numerous citations. JOURNAL ARTICLES Historians don't always write books. Smaller essays on specific topics can be found in scholarly journals. These are periodicals similar to magazines, only they are specifically focused on history topics. Academic journals can usually be found at college and university libraries, and there are often indexes to help you find an article on a specific topic. Or just peruse some of these journals to see what kinds of questions professional historians are asking about your topic.

You might also like