Peer Review
Courtesy of libncsu, Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license
Primary Sources
Hans Weingartz Leonce49
"Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later."
- Yale University, Primary Sources at Yale 2008
Primary sources can include:
A quick guide to using Primary sources from the DoHistory website.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources comment on, describe, discuss, analyse, and interpret primary sources of information. For this reason, they are usually created after the event or time period recorded by the primary sources they use. Examples include;
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Tertiary Sources
Tertiary sources are similar to secondary sources in that they both interpret primary sources of information. Tertiary sources, however, are usually condensed summaries and are useful as general reference material, offering definitions and overviews when you are starting on your research. Examples include;
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Image courtesy of Portland Community College Library
Materials are placed in Reserve for specific units at the request of academic staff.
Reserve is the area on Level 2 of the Library where print copies of high demand books, videos, DVDs and sometimes journals are held and available for 3 hour loan.
eReserve provides electronic copies of unit-related materials such as book chapters, journal articles, unit outlines, lecture notes and past exam papers.
Use the link below to look at the information gathered to help you get started on your research journey. Topics focus on:
The quality of the information you use in your assignment, as well as your understanding and interpretation of this information, is essential to your essay. Use these links to help you;
You can find books and journals, both print and electronic, using MultiSearch, the Library's discovery tool. Use these guides to get the most out of MultiSearch;
