Most materials one finds in a library, such as books, documents, journals, and media, may be divided into either Primary or Secondary Source materials. They may be either print or electronic. Primary Source materials are quite often the “building blocks” upon which Secondary Source materials are based.
Example of Primary and Secondary Source
Art History
Primary Source Secondary Source
Helen Sears John Singer Sargent Figures and Landscapes 1909-1913
A portrait by John Singer Sargent A book about John Singer Sargent
Museum of Fine Arts Boston by Richard Ormond
Sargent, John, Singer. Helen Sears. 1895. The Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA. Web. 3 Aug. 2017.
Social Sciences
Primary Source Secondary Source
Fig 2
Primary Source Credit:
Khoo, S. Y., McNally, G. P., & Clemens, K. J. (2017). The dual orexin antagonist TCS1102 does not affect reinstatement of receptor nicotine. Plos ONE 12(17) doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0173967
Secondary source Credit:
Van, W.K.S. and Davis, D.R. (2013). Addiction Treatment: A strengths prespective. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Cengage Learning.
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