What are Primary and Secondary Sources -- A Select Sample

Library guides (LibGuides Community Site) provide resources to understand the question of what is primary (original work) and what is secondary (review, criticism, etc.). A sample is given here to help a beginner and anyone who needs a lead:

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES   Source: http://selu.libguides.com
Primary Source	Secondary Sources
Novel, poem	Literary criticism
Diary, autobiography	Biography
Letters, historical documents, oral testimony	Historical Commentary
Newspaper report	Editorial
Raw data from questionnaires	Social Science Article
Observation/experiment	Scientific article
Television show/film	Review
Interview	Case study

"A primary source is any work that offers ORIGINAL intellectual content: artistic works, diaries, newpaper reports witnessed by a participant from the time of the event, memoirs, speeches, government reports & statistics, artifacts.

Primary sources generally serve as foundation material for a particular subject area. They are the result of someone doing primary research, which involves collecting raw data. Primary sources allow researchers to analyze the data or object for themselves in order to come up with alternate theories and opinions.

Secondary sources interpret and analyze primary sources. In other words, when a writer looks at a primary document, and produces a work that tries to make sense of what he or she finds, the result is a secondary study or secondary source." Adapted from:

Kirszner, Laurie G. The Holt Handbook. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2002.

 Source: http://selu.libguides.com

Samples from Library Guides:

• Primary vs Secondary Sources - Library and Information Science -- uiuc.libguides.com
• Format of Primary Sources - LibGuides at CSU Los Angeles
• Primary Sources - Saint Leo University LibGuides 
• Introduction to Archival Research - LibGuides @CSU   
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources - Primary Sources 
• Primary Sources vs. Secondary Sources - Archives at Institute of ... American Indian Arts
• Examples of Sources by Academic Discipline - Primary Sources vs Secondary Sources...
• Primary Sources on the Web - Primary and Secondary Sources ...
• Finding Primary Sources in Online Databases - Primary Sources vs . Secondary Sources.
• Finding Primary Sources on the Web - Primary Sources vs ... Secondary 
• Secondary sources - Primary Sources Quick Guide - LibGuides 
• Find more Google

Why it matters that you can't own an electronic copy of the Oxford English Dictionary

Cory Doctorow  @ Boing Boing  Aug 24, 2013

Extract:
In my latest Guardian column, I talk about the digital versions of the Oxford English Dictionary and the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, the two most important lexicographic references to the English language. As a writer, my print copies of the OED and HTOED are to me what an anvil is to a blacksmith; but I was disturbed to learn that the digital editions of these books are only available as monthly rentals, services that come with expansive data-collecting policies and which cannot be owned. It's especially ironic that these books are published by Oxford University, home of the Bodleian, a deposit archive and library founded in the 14th century, a symbol of the importance of enduring ownership of books... continue reading + + Oxford English Dictionary – the future, The Guardian Cory Doctorow 23 August 2013

On the same shelf:

• Reference Process -- Readings  
• Oxford English Dictionary : Toronto Public Library 
• ASAPLive - Virtual Reference Library - Oxford English Dictionary ...
• Definition is not endorsement Baltimore Sun (blog) 24 August 2013
• Why editors are 'literally' changing the dictionary BBC News Aug 18, 2013
• Let pedants roar, Oxford proves itself a friend of tin ears, literally  Brisbane Times-Aug 17, 2013
• http://oxforddictionaries.com 
• Oxford English Dictionary: Home 
• Oxford English Dictionary Revises Definition of Marriage to Reflect  Same-Sex Relationships. Towleroad-Aug 23, 2013
• UBC prof lobbies Oxford English dictionary to be less British Toronto Star-Aug 13, 2013
• Daily Mail Oxford University Press Monitoring Evolution of Marriage Definition

  Lez Get Real-Jul 27, 2013 Extract: "The definition of marriage has already changed in several countries. France changed their before their Parliament enacted same-sex marriage. The French dictionary Larousse changed their definition to a “solemn act between two same-sex or different-sex persons, who decide to establish a union”. The Canada Space Dictionary defines marriage as “the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)”.
  However, given the diversity of marriage throughout the world, wouldn’t it just be simpler to bite the bullet and define it as the union of two or more people for the conveyance of property, raising of children, and/or companionship with other individuals?"
  

Reference Process -- Readings

You may call it, Reference Process or Reference Transaction or Reference Work in the library environment!!!
Whatever it is called by the librarians (traditional, modern, virtual, etc.), there is chain process, that starts with the user need, need analysis, need negotiation, consulting appropriate sources, customizing search strategy, search, retrieval, evaluation of search results, modification if required, and delivery or suggesting alternative sources...

"Nearly forty years ago now, Shera (1964) not only foresaw the use of computing to take some of the menial labor out of library reference work, but he also proposed a method for achieving that goal. Shera wrote that “the really great promise of automation is to be sought in… the opportunity it affords to analyze the reference process and re-define reference service” (p. 203). He saw this redefinition as removing the “fetch and carry” aspects, and the potential to raise the intellectual level of reference work. To achieve this end, Shera proposed an agenda for action: first, analyze the processes involved in reference service, and how questions are handled by humans in those processes, and second, create algorithms to represent these processes. Forty years later, Shera’s agenda still provides a sound course of action." Jeffrey Pomerantz, Question Types in Digital Reference: An Evaluation of Question Taxonomies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.-- Chapter One

Interesting anecdotes about Reference Transactions by Swiss Army Librarian


On the same shelf:

A Model of the Reference and Information Service Process

2011 - Crimea 2011 - Workshop New Trends in Reference Services - Sudak - 7 juin 2011

Ranganathan Online: Do digital libraries violate the Third Law (of S R Ranganathan, 3.Every book, its reader)?

Understanding Reference Transactions: Transforming an Art into a Science (Academic Press, 2002) (1,000 citations supplemented)

Reference Interview Stages -- National Network of Libraries of Medicine

How to Create a Bibliography

Reference Process Interview Flowchart

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography Cornell University

MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications) -- Purdue OWL

eight of the 13 steps - Reference Process

Understanding the Reference Transaction: A Systems Analysis Perspective

The Current State of Digital Reference: Validation of a General Digital Reference Model through a Survey of Digital Reference Services

Roles in Digital Reference

Course Readings at University of Texas, Austin

Agosto, Denise, Lily Rozaklis, Craig MacDonald, and Eileen G. Abels, “A Model of the Reference and Information Service Process,” Reference & User Services Quarterly 50 (3) (Spring 2011): 235-244.

Fichter, Darlene and Jeff Wisniewski, “Put the `Service’ in Self-Service,” Online 32 (1) (January/February 2008): 55-57.

Murphy, Sarah Anne, “The Reference Narrative,” Reference & User Services Quarterly 44 (3) (Spring 2005): 247-252.

Neville, Tina M., et. al., “Reference Classification—Is It Time to Make Some Changes?” Reference & User Services Quarterly 48 (4) (Summer 2009): 372-383.

Pomerantz, Jeffrey, Scott Nicholson, and R. David Lankes, ”Digital Reference Triage: Factors influencing Question Routing and Assignment,” The Library Quarterly 73 (2) (April 2003): 103-120.

Tyckoson, David A., “What’s Right With Reference,” American Libraries 30 (5) (May 1999): 57-63.

Westbrook, Lynn, “Virtual Reference Training: The Second Generation,” College & Research Libraries 67 (3) (May 2006): 249-259. (source: INF 382D: Readings)