Characteristics and examples of information sources: primary, secondary and tertiary information.

SISSEKANNE # 61

1.1.  Categorization of Information Sources

 

ⓒ own work

1.2.  Identification of type of information resources

Column A	Column B
Textbooks and annual reports	a tertiary source of information
Encyclopaedia Britannica	an index type of secondary  source
Indian Science Abstracts	a reference source
Bibliography of bibliographies	survey type of publication

1.3.  Examples of information resources: primary, secondary and tertiary information.

Primary sources are original materials created or produced during the time under study. These materials have not been interpreted, filtered, or evaluated. Primary sources enable the reader to make their own interpretations about the event, without having to rely on what has already been written on the topic.  They present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information:

1.       Dissertations

2.       Conference papers

3.       Letters

4.       Diaries

5.       Manuscripts

6.       Photographs and video recordings

A secondary source analyzes, evaluates, and interprets one or more primary sources.  Many secondary sources rely on other secondary sources for information. They are accounts written after the event with the benefit of hindsight, and often draw a conclusion. In brief, secondary source cites, comments on, or builds upon primary sources:

1.       Biographiical works

2.       Textbooks

3.       Annual reports

4.       Peer review articles

5.       Headnotes of law cases

6.       Historical overviews (Histories)

A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of primary and secondary sources, so-called third-level of information sources. The information is not analyzed or interpreted.  Tertiary sources are generally not acceptable for academic research:

1.       Encyclopedias

2.       Dictionaries

3.       Chronologies

4.       Manuals

5.       Travel guides

6.       Almanacs

*             *             *

Sources:

·         Uverskaja, E.(2017). Infoallikad ja -ressursid. S. Virkus, T. Reimo, & A. Lepik(toim), Infoteadused teoorias ja praktikas (lk408-415). Tallinn: TLÜ Kirjastus

·         M-02.Types of Information Sources: Documentary: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary (LS). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiLqd-5Ui8A.  Viewed: 15.09.2019.

·         Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Resources. University of New Haven; http://libguides.newhaven.edu/c.php?g=505019&p=3457536. Retrieved: 15.09.2019.