Types of Information Sources

Information can come from virtually anywhere: personal experiences, books,

articles, expert opinions, encyclopedias, the Web. The type of information
needed will change depending on its application.
Individuals generate information on a daily basis as they go about their
work. In academic institutions, staff and students consult various sources of
information. The choice of the source to consulted is usually determined by
the type of information sought. The three types of information sources are:

 Primary
 Secondary
 Tertiary
 Primary Sources

Primary sources are original materials on which other research studies are
based. Primary sources report a discovery or share new information [2];
they present first-hand accounts and information relevant to an event [3, 4a
and 5]. They present information in its original form, not interpreted or
condensed or evaluated by other writers [2]. They are usually evidence or
accounts of the events, practices, or conditions being researched [4a, 6] and
created by a person who directly experienced that event [7]. Primary
sources are the first formal appearance of results in print or electronic
formats [3]. Examples of primary sources are: eyewitness accounts,
journalistic reports, financial reports, government documents, archeological
and biological evidence, court records, ephemerals (posters, handbills),
literary manuscript and minutes of meetings etc [3,4b and 6].
The definition of a primary source may vary depending upon the discipline or
context. A diary would be a primary source because it is written directly by
the individual writing in the diary [7]. Interviews are primary sources
because the individual talks about the topic directly from what he/she knows
about it. Other examples are:

 Video of the inauguration of the first female president in Brazil

 A scientific publication reporting the development of a new medication
to manage patients with sickle-cell anemia

Print Electronic Others

- Diaries
- Letters  Internet  Artifacts (e.g.
- Speeches  E-mail coins, plant
- Patents communication specimens,
- Photographs fossils,
- Newspaper articles  Communication in furniture,
- Journal articles Listservs tools,
- Theses and dissertations  Interviews (e.g., clothing, all
- Survey Research (e.g., telephone, e-mail) from the time
market surveys, public under study)
opinion polls)  Video recordings
- Proceedings of Meetings, (e.g. television  Works of art,
conferences and symposia programs) architecture,
- Original Documents (i.e. literature, and
birth certificates, wills,  Audio recordings music (e.g.,
marriage licenses, trial (e.g. radio paintings,
transcripts) programs) sculptures,
- Records of organizations,  Web sites musical
government agencies (e.g.  Communications scores,
annual reports, treaties, through social buildings,
constitutions, government networking novels,
documents) applications (e.g. poems).
Face book, blogs,
RSS, U-tube etc.)

A newspaper article reporting the bomb blast in Abuja, Nigeria, during the
celebration of the country’s 50th Independent Anniversary.

Note: The types of information that can be considered a primary source

may vary depending on the subject discipline, and how the material is being
used. For example:

 A research article in a peer-reviewed journal that proved the

effectiveness of a newly developed vaccine for the prevention of HIV
virus would be a primary source, however,

 A magazine article that reports the development of a new vaccine for

the prevention of HIV infection would be regarded as a primary source.

 Information in a magazine article that reports a study of how compact

fluorescent light bulbs are presented in the popular media could be
considered a primary source [3].

Grey literature

Grey literature is also important primary source material(s) not available

through the usual systems of publication (e.g. books or periodicals) and
distribution [11]. Examples are: Conference proceedings, data exchange,
environmental impact statements, oral presentations, market research
reports, online documents, oral presentations and working papers

Table 2: List of primary sources of information in various formats

This poster advertises a lecture scheduled for March 13, 2003

(Courtesy University of Illinois Library)
Photograph of PubMed/HINARI training by librarians at E. Latunde Odeku
Medical Library, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, for
resident doctors at the University College Hospital

Secondary Sources

A secondary source of information is one that was created by someone

who didnothave first-hand experience or did not participate in the events or
conditions being researched [4]. They are generally accounts written after
the fact with the benefit of hindsight. Secondary sources describe, analyze,
interpret, evaluate, comment on and discuss the evidence provided by
primary sources [2]. Secondary sources are works that are one step
removed from the original event or experience that provide criticism,
interpretation or evaluation of primary sources [7]. Secondary sources are
not evidence, but rather commentary on and discussion of evidence. A
secondary data is one that has been collected by individuals or agencies for
purposes other than those of a particular research study.

However, what some define as a secondary source, others define as a

tertiary source. For example, if a magazine writer wrote about the speech
Nelson Mandela delivered when he was inaugurated President of South Africa
in 1990, it will be a secondary source. The information is not original, but an
analysis of the speech. If a government department has conducted a survey
of, say, family food expenditures, then, a food manufacturer might use this
data in the organization’s evaluations of the total potential market for a new
product [8]. Similarly, statistics prepared by a pharmaceutical company on
the production of a particular drug will prove useful to a host of people and
organizations, including those marketing the drug.

For secondary sources, often the best are those that have been published
most recently [4b]. If you use a secondary source that was published
decades ago, it is important to know what subsequent scholars have written
on the topic and what criticism they have made about the earlier work or its
approach to the topic. The definition of a secondary source may vary
depending upon the discipline or context. Most often how a source is used
determines whether it is a primary or secondary source [9]. For the
purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally
scholarly books and articles. Also included in this category would be
reference sources such as encyclopedias (also considered tertiary). Other
examples of secondary sources are:

 Bibliographies (also considered tertiary);

 Biographical works
 Commentaries
  Criticisms
 Dictionaries
 Histories
 Journal articles (depending on the discipline, these can be primary)
 Magazine and newspaper articles (this distinction varies by discipline)
 Monographs, other than fiction and autobiography
 Textbooks (also considered tertiary)
 Websites (also considered primary)

 Tertiary sources

Definition: Tertiary sources consist of information which is a distillation and

collection of primary and secondary sources [3]. Generally, tertiary sources
are not considered to be acceptable material on which to base academic
research [6]. Tertiary sources are usually not credited to a particular
author. They are intended only to provide an overview of what the topic
includes, its basic terminology, and often references for further
reading. Some reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary
sources when their chief purpose is to list, summarize or simply repackage
ideas or other information. Examples of tertiary sources include dictionaries
and encyclopedias, Wikipedia and similar user-contributed online
'encyclopedias' and reference materials, as well as various digests (including
the Reader's Digest) and schoolbooks [6]. In a nutshell, tertiary sources
are:

 works which list primary and secondary resources in a specific subject

area
 works which index, organize and compile citations to, and show
secondary (and sometimes primary) sources can be used.
 Materials in which the information from secondary sources has been
"digested" - reformatted and condensed, to put it into a convenient,
easy-to-read form [10].
 Sources which are once removed in time from secondary sources

Table 3: General classification of selected primary, secondary and tertiary

sources of information

Primary sources Secondary sources Tertiary sources

 Autobiographies  Biographies, Encyclopedi  Chronologies
 Correspondence as, dictionaries,  Classifications
: email, letters  Dictionaries
  Descriptions of handbooks  Encyclopedias
travel  Directories
 Diaries,  Textbooks & monographs  Guidebooks
 Eyewitnesses on a topic and manuals
 Oral histories  literary criticism &  Population
 Literary works interpretation registers
 Interviews  history & historical statistics
 Personal criticism  Fact books
narratives  political analyses  Abstracts
 First-hand  reviews of law and  Indexes
newspaper and legislation  Bibliographies
magazine  essays on morals and  Manuals/Guid
accounts of ethics e books
events  analyses of social policy
 Legal cases,  study and teaching
treaties material
 Statistics,
surveys, opinion  Articles, such as literature
polls, reviews,
 scientific data,  Commentaries, research
transcripts articles in all subject
 Journal articles disciplines
 Records of  Criticism of works of
organizations literature, art and music
and government
agencies
 Original works
of literature, art
or music
 Cartoons,
postcards,
posters

Map, paintings,
photographs, films

 Difference between Primary, Secondary and Tertiary

Sources of Information

Primary sources of information are original manuscripts, documents or

records used in preparing a published or unpublished work. For example, an
article in a peer reviewed journal that discussed the development of a new
vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection will be considered a primary
source. Secondary sources are published or unpublished works that rely on
primary source(s). A commentary by a magazine reporter based on the
peer reviewed journal article on the newly invented vaccine for HIV
prevention, would be a secondary source. Tertiary sources are published or
unpublished works that are based on secondary sources. Tertiary sources
are index to primary sources. Science Citation Index would be considered a
tertiary source. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between primary,
secondary and tertiary sources. The following publication details of the
information adapted from University of Wisconsin libraries [12] can be
helpful in determining whether a material is primary, secondary or tertiary
source:

 Timing of the event recorded--If the article was composed close to

the time of the event recorded, chances are it is primary material. For
instance, a letter written by a soldier during the Second World War is
primary material, as is an article written in the newspaper or a
soldier's letter home during the Liberian Civil War. However, an article
written analyzing the results of the battle during the Liberian Civil War
is secondary material.

 Rhetorical aim of the written item--Often, an item that is written

with a persuasive, or analytical aim is secondary material. These
materials have digested and interpreted the event, rather than
reported on it

 Context of the researching scholar--Primary materials for a critic

studying the literature of the Civil War are different from primary
materials for a historian studying Civil War prisons. The critic's primary
materials are the poems, stories, and films of the era. The research
scientist's primary materials would be the diaries and writings of the
prisoners.

Your information needs and requirements will determine what source(s) you
need to consult in order to meet that need. For example,

You might try:

If you need:
Current information about the Newspapers and the Web
political situation in your country
or adisaster that has happened
yesterday somewhere around the
world
Scholarly articles that discussed Journals and books (and e-journals or
research about using cassava for e- books on the Web)
baking or cyanides in cassava
Popular articles about scams on the Magazines (and perhaps e-magazines
Internet on the Web) Databases (PubMed,
Scopus, Web of Knowledge, EMBASE
To search for scholarly articles on a African Index Medicus (AIM)
topic such as malaria or HIV and
tuberculosis
General information such as Search engines such as
definitions, contacts , Institutions Google, Yahoo etc
etc