"In scholarship, a secondary source is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere."
Works that analyze, interpret, or comment on primary sources including textbooks, biographies, monographs, and scholarly articles.
Definition and Types of Secondary Sources: This topic covers the different types of secondary sources and defines what they are in the context of historical methodology.
Importance of Secondary Sources: This topic discusses why secondary sources are important for historians, what role they play in historical research and analysis.
How to find Reliable Secondary Sources: This topic provides guidance on how to find reliable secondary sources, and how to determine their credibility.
Evaluation of Secondary Sources: This topic teaches the readers to critically evaluate the secondary sources they come across, and how to identify potential biases or limitations.
Primary vs Secondary Sources: This topic discusses the difference between primary and secondary sources and their respective roles in historical research.
Methods of Secondary Source Research: This topic discusses the different methods used to research secondary sources, including archival research, text analysis, and oral history.
Historical Interpretation: This topic discusses how historians use secondary sources to interpret historical events and evaluate the accuracy of these interpretations.
Diverse Perspectives in Secondary Sources: This topic covers how secondary sources can present diverse perspectives and how they help historians to identify and learn about different historical viewpoints.
Use of Digital Tools in Secondary Source Research: This topic discusses the use of digital tools in secondary source research, such as databases, archives, and online resources.
Ethics of Secondary Source: This topic discusses the ethical considerations that come with using secondary sources in historical research, such as plagiarism concerns, and the need to give proper credit to sources used.
Textbooks: Textbooks are written accounts of historical events, providing a summary of the main facts and issues pertaining to a particular historical period or event.
Encyclopedia articles: Encyclopedia articles provide a wealth of information on a wide range of historical topics, offering concise and readable overviews of key issues and events.
Biographies: Biographies are written accounts of the life of a particular individual, providing insights into their character and motivations, as well as their contributions to history.
Memoirs: Memoirs are first-hand accounts of historical events, written by people who were directly involved in them.
Diaries and journals: Diaries and journals offer personal accounts of historical events, providing unique insights into the daily lives and experiences of individuals who lived during a particular historical period.
Letters: Letters are personal communications between individuals, and can provide significant insights into the attitudes and perspectives of people during a particular historical period.
Newspapers and magazines: Newspapers and magazines offer contemporaneous accounts of historical events, providing a sense of how people at the time perceived and understood those events.
Government documents: Government documents can include a wide range of materials, from official reports to diplomatic correspondence, and can provide important insights into the decision-making processes of political leaders during a particular historical period.
Statistics and data: Statistics and data can provide quantitative insights into a wide range of historical phenomena, from economic and demographic trends to patterns of social and political behavior.
Interviews and oral histories: Interviews and oral histories are first-hand accounts of historical events, recorded through conversation or structured interviews with people who witnessed or participated in those events.
"A secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being discussed."
"A primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation or a document created by such a person."
"In this source, the original information is selected, modified, and arranged in a suitable format."
"Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information."
"Some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how they are used."
"A third level, the tertiary source, such as an encyclopedia or dictionary, resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis but attempts to provide a broad introductory overview of a topic."
"A secondary source gives information about a primary source."
"The most accurate classification for any given source is not always obvious."
"A primary source is an original source of the information being discussed."
"Secondary sources involve analysis of the original information."
"In this source, the original information is modified and arranged in a suitable format."
"A tertiary source attempts to provide a broad introductory overview of a topic."
"A secondary source relates to information originally presented elsewhere."
"Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information."
"Some sources may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how they are used."
"A tertiary source attempts to provide a broad introductory overview of a topic."
"A primary source involves a person with direct knowledge, whereas a secondary source discusses information originally presented elsewhere."
"A tertiary source provides a broad overview of a topic, while a secondary source involves analysis of the original information."
"Secondary sources involve interpretation of the original information."