Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary Vs. Secondary Sources
Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Sources."  Retrieved from YouTube.  Uploaded by BeamLibrary on Sep 23, 2009.  http://youtu.be/L5DdedR_iF8

Primary Vs. Secondary Sources
"Primary vs. Secondary Sources."  Retrieved from YouTube.  Uploaded by TheHartnessLibrary on Aug 2, 2010.  http://youtu.be/s13KpDtKAys.  (4:34).   
XXX Watch only first two minutes. 

Other Primary vs. Secondary vids:
"Primary vs. Secondary Sources."  Retreived from YouTube.  Uploaded by minnesotahistory on Jul 29, 2011.  http://youtu.be/jCzjn73QmVM.  (2:18). 

"Primary and Secondary Sources ."  Retrieved from YouTube.  Uploaded by Jedimindtric1 on Sep 23, 2010.  http://youtu.be/9a_ga0UfdWQ.  (7:38). 
XXX Skip entire first minute

Using Scholarly / Authoritative Sources
"Why can't I just Google?"  Retrieved from YouTube. 
Uploaded by ltulibrary on Feb 9, 2010.  http://youtu.be/N39mnu1Pkgw.  (3:13). 

"Evaluating Websites with Roxanne."  Retrieved from YouTube.  Uploaded by CNALibraries on Nov 10, 2010. http://youtu.be/TVh6dma6vJ0.  (1:45). 

The Most Credible Sources: Primary Documents
Original documents Written by Witnesses and Participants. 

An eyewitness that wrote her account close to the time of the event. 
    A survivor of the Titanic gives testimony after the sinking.  
    a diary 

An expert that was involved fulltime on a specific problem or in a specific field. 
    A lawyer writes about a case that she prosecuted.
    An archeologist writes about a dig in which he participated. 
    A witness to a shooting is interviewed. 

Credible Secondary Sources
A Secondary Document is one that Cites, Comments On, or Builds upon Primary Sources.   
It is credible because it comes from a source that is respected as unbiased and professional. 

The author is a person with expertise, but who was not a witness or participant
    An article about smallpox that was written by a doctor that is not involved fulltime with this disease. 
    An article about a court case that was written by a lawyer that was not involved in this particular case. 

A nationally or globally recognized news-source 
    Examples of nationally recognized news-sources include: ABC, BBC, CBS, CBC, CNN, ESPN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC,
    The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, Wall St. Journal, etc

Standard  Reference Works  (some consider these tertiary sources)
    World Book Encyclopedia, Guinness Book of World Records, Webster's Dictionary, etc.       

An author who gives complete documentation of material that was originally used elsewhere. 
    This means the source has a hypertext link that works or has a complete works cited entry of its original source. 

Less Credible Secondary Sources -
A Secondary Document is one that Cites, Comments On, or Builds upon Primary Sources.   
However, the source is one that is recognized as biased, or can be edited by anyone. 

The source is an advocate group--an organization with an agenda, a point to prove, a issue to promote, or an axe to grind.
    This would include opinions MADD, the ACLU, Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, the 700 Club, Right to Life, Planned
    Parenthood, Frontpagemag.com, Republican Party, Democratic Party, PAW, NOW, the NRA, the NEA, etc. 
The source is an author who fails to give complete documentation of the original source when he or she uses material that was originally recorded elsewhere.   
    This is an author that does not have a working hypertext link or full works cited entry, but he or she does give some reference
    to the original source. 
The source is open to modification by a large number of people. 
    Wikipedia 
A nationally syndicated columnist 
    Dave Barry, David Broder, William F. Buckley, Linda Chavez, Richard Cohen, Ann Coulter, Maureen Dowd, Larry Elder Ellen
    Goodman, Mark Helprin David Horowitz, Molly Ivins, Larry King, Dr. Laura, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved Anna Quindlen
    Dick Morris, Peggy Noonan, Oliver North, Robert Novak, William Raspberry, Dan Rather, Rex Reed, Charley Reese, Richard Reeves,
    Bill Safire, Tony Snow, Joe Sobran, Thomas Sowell, Andrew Sullivan, Cal Thomas, George Will, Walter Williams, and others.

Least Credible Sources--Tertiary Documents
Opinions expressed ideas filtered through secondary sources. 

The author is someone without any particular expertise, but who gives his or her full name. 
    This would include opinions on personal pages, electronic bulletin boards, a letter to a newspaper, a term paper published
    on the web  by high school or college student, etc. 
An author who gives only partial documentation of the original source when he or she uses material that was originally recorded elsewhere.   
    This is an author that does not have a working hypertext link or full works cited entry, but he or she does give some reference
    to the original source. 
Alternative media
    Examples include: talk radio,
Blogs
     Examples include:
Textbooks
    Examples include most schoolbooks. 
Indexes, Summaries,
    Examples include:

Sources Without ANY Credibility -- anonymous authors, rumors, and mystics. 

Any information or and opinion given without the author's full name on a site of no reputation. 
    This would include any opinions on personal pages, electronic bulletin boards, letters to a newspaper, etc. that
    are Anonymous, First-Name Only, or use a "Screen Name". 
    This does NOT include anonymous staff writers nationally or globally recognized news-source 
         
Sources that use quotations from people or references to eyewitnesses without documenting the original source. 
    Rumor and hearsay do not constitute sources. 
         
Any author that derives information from "the beyond".
    This includes any information that is gathered through crystals; from psychic vibrations; from UFOnauts or Atlanteans;
    from measurements of the Pyramids, Stonehenge, or other ancient structures; from hidden mathematical equations
    in essentially non-mathematical items; from hidden messages in ancient scriptures; messages directly from God, angels,
    or demons,  to any modern author; from ghosts or otherwise dead people; from spirits in the earth, rocks, trees,
    or anywhere; from hypnotized persons; from Nostradamus; etc. 

Exception:  A writer may use these types of sources if they are the topic, but not to support another topic. 

For example, if a student were writing a paper about psychics, it would be appropriate to use sites created by psychics to make his or her point.  In the paper, the student would recognize that psychics are deriving their information in a manner that is out of the mainstream, because that is what is being discussed. 

However, if a student were writing a paper on the assassination of JFK, it would be inappropriate to use information from a psychic to support his or her points.  Regardless of the writer's personal beliefs about psychics, they are not today considered an acceptable source of information.