Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied.
In historiography, a primary source (also called original source) is an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. If created by a human source, then a source with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Similar definitions are used in library science, and other areas of scholarship. In journalism, a primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a document created by such a person.
Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources, though the distinction is not a sharp one. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, with sources judged primary or secondary according to specific historical contexts and what is being studied.
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The significance of source classification
History and historiography
The delineation of sources as primary and secondary first arose in the field of historiography, as historians attempted to identify and classify the sources of historical writing. In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources. In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources."Many historians believe that primary sources have the most objective connection to the past, and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources.
Many scholars have commented on the difficulty in producing secondary source narratives from the "raw data" which makes up the past. Historian/philosopher Hayden White has written extensively on the ways in which the rhetorical strategies by which historians construct narratives about the past, and what sorts of assumptions about time, history, and events are embedded in the very structure of the historical narrative. In any case, the question of the exact relation between "historical facts" and the content of "written history" has been a topic of discussion among historians since at least the nineteenth century, when much of the modern profession of history came into being.
As a general rule, modern historians prefer to go back to primary sources, if available, as well as seeking new ones, because primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions, and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. On the other hand, most undergraduate research projects are limited to secondary source material.
Other fields
In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources.
- Narrative sources or literary sources tell a story or message. They are not limited to fictional sources (which can be sources of information for contemporary attitudes), but include diaries, films, biographies, leading philosophical works, scientific works, and so on.
- Diplomatic sources include charters and other legal documents which usually follow a set format.
- Social documents are records created by organizations, such as registers of births, tax records, and so on.
In the study of historiography, when the study of history is itself subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For a biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources.
The Lafayette College Library, for example, provides the following synopsis of primary sources in several basic areas of study:
"The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used.
- In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.
- In the social sciences, the definition of a primary source would be expanded to include numerical data that has been gathered to analyze relationships between people, events, and their environment.
- In the natural sciences, a primary source could be defined as a report of original findings or ideas. These sources often appear in the form of research articles with sections on methods and results."
Finding primary sources
Although many documents that are primary sources remain in private hands, the usual location for them is an archive. These can be public or private. Documents relating to one area are usually spread over a large number of different archives. These can be distant from the original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses a large number of documents from the United Kingdom.
In the US, digital primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several online Digital Collections where they can be retrieved. Examples of these are American Memory and the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). The National Archives and Records Administration also has such a tool, called Access to Archival Databases (AAD).
In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalogue and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of the available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland. Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own on-line catalogues. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents.
In the Republic of Ireland, available digital documents include the censuses of 1901 and 1911 which are available from the National Archives of Ireland.
In Australia, the National Archives of Australia has digitised a number of classes of records and will produce digitised copies of suitable documents on demand.
Using primary sources
History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history." Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources created by the people involved, at the time being studied. In practice some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps the only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes the only documents relating to an event or person in the distant past were written decades or centuries later. This is a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a summary of a book has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources.
Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for the purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done.
However, primary sources - particularly those from before the 20th century - may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous and very difficult to analyse and interpret." Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among the traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, The interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, however advanced self-study or informal training is also possible.
The following questions are asked about primary sources:
- What is the tone?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What is the purpose of the publication?
- What assumptions does the author make?
- What are the bases of the author's conclusions?
- Does the author agree or disagree with other authors of the subject?
- Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the issue?
- Where was the source made? (questions of systemic bias)
In journalism, education, and other fields, these are sometimes known as the five Ws - who, what, when, where and why
Strengths and weaknesses of primary sources
In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that the author may proceed to make use of secondary sources."
Forgeries
Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents, purporting to be primary sources. These forgeries have been constructed with the intention of promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity is diplomatics.
For centuries the Popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the secular power of the Papacy. Among the earliest forgeries are Anglo-Saxon Charters. There are a number of 11th and 12th century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost (or never existed). One particularly unusual forgery of a primary source was perpetrated by Sir Edward Dering who placed false monumental brasses in a local church. In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries which proved to be forgeries. Recently, forged documents have been placed within the UK National Archives in the hope of establishing a false provenance. However, historians dealing with recent centuries rarely encounter forgeries of any importance.
External links
- Repository of Personal Letters - Online collection of primary sources in the form of personal letters from the 1600s through to the 1940s.
- EAD Central - search engine designed to locate U.S. history and international primary source documents. Includes specialized searches for finding aids, photographs, genealogical data, presidential papers, manuscripts, artifacts, diaries, letters, science/technology/medicine documents, historiography, museums, exhibits, multicultural items, women, library and archival products, as well as theses and dissertations.
- Primary Sources from World War One and Two Database of mailed letters to and from soldiers during major world conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two.
- A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
- Find primary sources in the collections of major research libraries using ArchiveGrid
- Primary Sources - Online news publication featuring articles about primary sources making headlines. Covers major media outlets, local newspapers, and blogs. Includes public polls on issues like presidential records and the sale of the Magna Carta. Discusses trends in technology like digitization, data archiving, and digital preservation.
- "How to distinguish between primary and secondary sources" from the University of California, Santa Cruz Library
- "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources" from James Cook University Library
- Joan of Arc: Primary Sources Series -- Example of a publication focusing on primary source documents.
- Finding primary sources from the University of California, Berkeley library
- "Primary versus secondary sources" from the Bowling Green State University library
- Finding primary sources in world history
- Guide to Terminology used when describing archival and other primary source materials.
- thehistorysite.org Links to many online history archival sources.
License
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Archive".
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