Primary source

A primary source is an original document or other material that has not been changed in any way.^[1] It is a reliable first-hand account usually written at or near the time the event(s) occurred.^[2] Usually it was produced by someone with direct personal knowledge of the events that are described. It is used as an original source of information about the topic.^[3] Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources. Secondary sources are documents based on primary sources.^[4] Thus, a memoir of a participant in an event is a primary source, whilst a history of that event based on several memoirs is a secondary source. Different kinds of work have slightly different definitions of a primary source.^[5] In journalism, for example, a primary source can also be a person.

1. ↑ "Primary, secondary and tertiary sources". James Cook University. 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
2. ↑ "Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources". University Libraries, University of Maryland. 3 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
3. ↑ In library and information sciences, primary sources are generally regarded as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study. ("Primary, secondary and tertiary sources" Archived 2009-12-30 at the Wayback Machine and "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources" Archived 2005-02-12 at the Wayback Machine
4. ↑ Jerome Clauser, An Introduction to Intelligence Research and Analysis (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008), p. 69
5. ↑ "Primary vs Secondary". Old Dominion University Libraries. September 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2014.