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INFORMATION SOURCES: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources, and Gray literature

Certain disciplines may use different criteria for identifying Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary literature. Check with your professor or faculty advisor for help specific to your discipline  

  Primary Sources      Secondary Sources  Tertiary Sources      Gray Literature   

 

Type of work

*Autobiography

*Case studies

*Correspondence

*Diaries/ Personal
  papers

*Dissertations/Theses
*Films: Original dramatic / artistic productions

*First-person accounts

*Historical documents

(Constitution, treaties-
    copies of…)

*Laboratory data

*Minutes of meetings

*Original manuscripts / documents

*Original research

*Photographs

*Religious documents (Bible, 

   scripture…)

*Speeches

*Technical reports

*Works of fiction, poetry, drama…

*Analysis

*Biography

*Criticism

*Dissertations/Theses (Literature review materials)

*Editorials

*News reporter
   interviews

*Film documentaries

*Reviews of the
  literature

*Work that relies on 

    primary sources

 *Film 

documentaries

that are not
original work

*Work that is
based entirely on secondary
sources

*Conference proceedings

*Data exchange

*Dissertations / Theses

*Environmental impact 

    statements

*Government documents /

      publications

*Market research reports

*Online documents

*Oral presentations 

*Technical reports

*Working papers

 Author

*Authors reporting on personal experiences and/or work.

*In academics or research, often written by an expert or graduate student in the field.

*Author has an interest  in the topic.

 

*Can be an expert in    the field.

*Author has an interest in the topic.

*Free-lance
  writers

*Staff writer

*Author works in the field

*Expert in the field.

*Masters or PhD candidates

Where

published

 

Where Indexed

Books

Gray literature

Monograph

Scholarly journal

Refereed/peer reviewed journal

SUBJECT-SPECIFIC INDEXES

ABI/Inform

Congressional Universe

FirstSearch Databases1

J-STOR

Kulwer

Lexis/Nexis

Westlaw

NCJRS Website

OVID

Proquest Medical, Nursing & Psychology

Stat-USA

State Capital Universe

Statistical Universe

 

1. FirstSearch databases include subject-specific and general indexes.

For help in selecting the right databases, ask a reference staff.

Books, Encyclopedias

Gray literature

Newspapers

Pamphlets

Scholarly journal

Peer reviewed journals

SUBJECT-SPECIFIC &  GENERAL INDEXES

ABI/Inform

Congressional Universe

Criminal Justice  Abstracts

FirstSearch Databases1

GaleNet

J-STOR

Kulwer

Lexis/Nexis

Westlaw

NCJRS Website

NetAdvantage

OVID

Proquest Direct, Medical, Nursing & Psychology

Stat-USA

State Capital Universe

Statistical Universe

1. FirstSearch databases include subject-specific and general indexes.

For help in selecting the right databases, ask a reference staff.

Books / textbooks

Gray literature

Magazines

Newspapers

Trade journals

GENERAL INDEXES

Academic Index

EBSCO

FirstSearch Databases

General Science Index2

Lexis/Nexis  - News

New York Times Index2

NewsBank InfoWeb

Proquest Direct

Readers Guide to Periodical Literature2

 

2.   Print Material

Business / Industry publications

Government publications (Federal, state & local)

Unpublished dissertation / Theses

INDEXES  to GENERAL &

GRAY  LITERATURE

Big Cypress Basin 

Caloosahatchee Docs. 

Charlotte HarborDocs.  

Criminal Justice Abstr.

Dissertation Abstracts3 

ERIC  http://askeric.org/Eric/

GrayLIT Network  

http://www.osti.gov/graylit/

Library of Congress loc.gov 

National Sea Grant Library http://nsgd.gso.uri.edu/

NCJRS   ncjrs.org/

NOAA        noaa.gov

NTIS      ntis.gov

PapersFirst3

Proceedings 3

Scientific & Technical Information Network

http://stinet.dtic.mil/

US Census Bureau www.census.gov

USDA      usda.gov

USGS       usgs.gov

WorldCat3

 

3  Access through FirstSearch

 


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Last updated January 8, 2006