View source for Module:Source text

{{Short description|Text from which information is derived}}
{{Redirect|Reliable sources|the CNN talk show|Reliable Sources|the Wikipedia guideline|Wikipedia:Reliable sources}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Translation sidebar}}

A '''source text'''<ref name=umdguide>{{cite web |title=Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources guide |url=http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/primary-sources |publisher=University of Maryland Libraries |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703015116/http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/primary-sources|archive-date=3 July 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml JCU – Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212093611/http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml |date=2005-02-12 }}</ref> is a [[writing|text]] (sometimes [[Speech|oral]]) from which [[information]] or ideas are derived. In [[translation]], a source text is the original text that is to be translated into another [[language]].

More generally, '''source material''' or '''symbolic sources''' are objects meant to communicate information, either publicly or privately, to some person, known or unknown. Typical symbolic sources include written documents such as letters, notes, receipts, ledgers, manuscripts, reports, or public signage, or graphic art, etc. Symbolic sources exclude, for example, bits of broken pottery or scraps of food excavated from a [[midden]]{{mdash}}and this regardless of how much information can be extracted from an ancient trash heap, or how little can be extracted from a written document.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OX7d7u_2rF4C&pg=PA121|title=An Introduction to the Historiography of Science|last=Kragh|first=Helge|date=1989-11-24|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521389211|pages=121|language=en}}</ref>

==Classification in levels==
{{see also|Primary source#Classifying sources|Secondary source#Classification of sources}}

In [[historiography]], distinctions are commonly made between three levels of source texts: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

===Primary===
{{main|Primary source}}
[[Primary source]]s are firsthand written accounts made at the [[time]] of an event by someone who was present. They have been described as those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study.<ref name=umdguide>{{cite web |title=Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources guide |url=http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/primary-sources |publisher=University of Maryland Libraries |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703015116/http://www.lib.umd.edu/ues/guides/primary-sources|archive-date=3 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="ref_">[http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml "Library Guides: Primary, secondary and tertiary sources"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212093611/http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/LibraryGuides/primsrcs.shtml |date=2005-02-12 }}</ref> These types of sources have been said to provide researchers with "direct, unmediated information about the object of study."<!--FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
|last1=Dalton
|first1=Margaret Steig 
|last2=Charnigo
|first2=Laurie
|title=Historians and Their Information Sources
|url=http://web-archive-sources.org/dalton.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003184402/http://web-archive-sources.org/dalton.pdf
|url-status=usurped
|archive-date=3 October 2023
|pages=400–25, at 416 n.3
|journal=[[College & Research Libraries]]
|volume=September
|issue=5 
|year=2004
|doi=10.5860/crl.65.5.400 
|doi-access=free
}}, citing U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003), ''Occupational Outlook Handbook''; {{Citation
   |last=Lorenz
   |first=C.
   |contribution=History: Theories and Methods
   |volume=10
   |page=6871
   |editor-first1=Neil J.
   |editor-last1=Smelser
   |editor-first2=Paul B.
   |editor-last2=Baltes
   |title=International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences
   |publisher=Elsevier
   |location=Amsterdam
   |year=2001
}}.</ref><!--

--> Primary sources are sources which, usually, are recorded by someone who participated in, witnessed, or lived through the event. These are also usually authoritative and fundamental documents concerning the subject under consideration. This includes published original accounts, published [[Originality|original]] works, or published original research. They may contain original research or new information not previously published elsewhere.<!--
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
|last=Duff
|first=Alistair
|title=The literature search: a library-based model for information skills instruction
|journal=Library Review
|year=1996
|volume=45
|issue=4
|pages=14–18
|doi=10.1108/00242539610115263
}} ("A primary source is defined here as a source containing new information authored by the original researcher(s) and not previously published elsewhere.").</ref><!--

--> They have been distinguished from [[secondary sources]], which often cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources.<ref>Handlin (1954) 118–246</ref> They serve as an original source of [[information]] or new ideas about the topic. ''Primary'' and ''secondary'', however, are relative terms, and any given source may be classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used.<!--

FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Citation
 |last        = Kragh
 |first       = Helge
 |title       = An Introduction to the Historiography of Science
 |year        = 1989
 |publisher   = Cambridge University Press
 |isbn        = 0-521-38921-6
 |url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121
 |page        = 121
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20180121224813/https://books.google.com/books?id=d2zy_QSq2b0C&pg=PA121
 |archive-date = 2018-01-21
}} ("[T]he distinction is not a sharp one. Since a source is only a source in a specific historical context, the same source object can be both a primary or secondary source according to what it is used for."); {{Citation
 |last1       = Delgadillo
 |first1      = Roberto
 |last2       = Lynch
 |first2      = Beverly
 |title       = Future Historians: Their Quest for Information
 |url         = http://forms.international.ucla.edu/files/rrta2biw_ou3.pdf
 |journal     = College & Research Libraries
 |volume = 60
 |issue = 3
 |year        = 1999
 |pages       = 245–259, at 253
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093542/http://forms.international.ucla.edu/files/rrta2biw_ou3.pdf
 |archive-date = 2016-03-04
|doi = 10.5860/crl.60.3.245
 |doi-access= free
 }} ("[T]he same document can be a primary or a secondary source depending on the particular analysis the historian is doing"); {{Citation
 |last1       = Monagahn
 |first1      = E.J.
 |last2       = Hartman
 |first2      = D.K.
 |year        = 2001
 |title       = Historical research in literacy
 |journal     = Reading Online
 |volume      = 4
 |issue       = 11
 |url         = http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/monaghan/index.html
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071214033747/http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=%2Farticles%2Fhandbook%2Fmonaghan%2Findex.html
 |archive-date = 2007-12-14
}} ("[A] source may be primary or secondary, depending on what the researcher is looking for.").</ref><!--

--> Physical objects can be primary sources.

===Secondary and tertiary===
{{main|Secondary source|Tertiary source}}
[[Secondary source]]s are written accounts of history based upon the evidence from primary sources. These are sources which, usually, are accounts, works, or research that analyze, assimilate, evaluate, interpret, and/or synthesize primary sources. These are not as authoritative and are supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These documents or people summarize other material, usually primary source material. They are academics, journalists, and other researchers, and the papers and books they produce. This includes published accounts, published works, or published research. For example, a history book drawing upon diary and newspaper records.

[[Tertiary source]]s are compilations based upon primary and secondary sources.<ref name=umdguide /><ref>See, e.g. [http://www.lib.odu.edu/libassist/tutorials/nursing/glossary.html Glossary, Using Information Resources] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828123138/http://www.lib.odu.edu/libassist/tutorials/nursing/glossary.html |date=2008-08-28 }}. ("Tertiary Source" is defined as "reference material that synthesizes work already reported in primary or secondary sources".)</ref><ref name="ref_" /> These are sources which, on average, do not fall into the above two levels. They consist of generalized research of a specific subject under consideration. Tertiary sources are analyzed, assimilated, evaluated, interpreted, and/or synthesized from secondary sources, also. These are not authoritative and are just supplemental documents concerning the subject under consideration. These are often meant to present known information in a convenient form with no claim to originality. Common examples are [[encyclopedia]]s and [[textbook]]s.

The distinction between  ''primary source'' and ''secondary source'' is standard in [[historiography]], while the distinction between these sources and ''tertiary sources'' is more peripheral, and is more relevant to the scholarly research work than to the published content itself.

Below are types of sources that most generally, but not absolutely, fall into a certain level. The letters after an item describes ''generally'' the type it is (though this can vary pending the exact source). ''P'' is for primary sources, ''S'' is for secondary sources, and ''T'' is for tertiary sources; those with ''?''s are indeterminate.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* Published [[Document]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Map]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Literature]]{{small|''(?)''}}
*** [[Autobiography|Autobiographies]] {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Biography|Biographies]] {{small|''(S)''}}
*** [[Poem]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
*** [[Book]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
*** [[Magazine]]s {{small|''(T)''}}
*** [[Newspaper]] articles {{small|''(S)''}}
*** [[Pamphlet]]s {{small|''(T)''}}
*** [[Poster]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Advertisement]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Research]] {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Peer review|Peer journal]]s {{small|''(S)''}}
* Non-government documents{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Organization]] papers {{small|''(P)''}}
* Government documents {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[public domain|Public record]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Voter]] lists {{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Police]] records {{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Court]] records {{small|''(?)''}}
** Court hearings {{small|''(?)''}}
** Court proceedings {{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Tax]] accounts{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Census]] data and records {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Classified information|Classified document]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Law]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Treaty|Treaties]] {{small|''(P)''}}
** Court decisions {{small|''(P)''}}
* Unpublished documents{{small|''(?)''}}
** Personal papers {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Letter (message)|Letters]] {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Diary|Diaries]] {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Diary|Journals]] {{small|''(P)''}}
*** [[Will (law)|Will]]s {{small|''(P)''}}
** Research{{small|''(?)''}}
*** [[Statistical survey|Survey]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
*** Fieldwork{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Report]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Public speaking|Speech]]es{{small|''(P)''}}
** [[Interview]]s{{small|''(?)''}}
** Membership records{{small|''(?)''}}
** Meeting transcripts{{small|''(?)''}}
** [[Finance|Financial accounts]]{{small|''(?)''}}
{{div col end}}

==Authoritative sources==
A source that is official is called authoritative if it is known to be reliable and its authority or authenticity is widely recognized by experts in the field. Libraries specialize in collecting these types of resources so that students and faculty have the tools they need to research effectively.<ref>{{citation|url=http://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_a#authoritative|title=Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]}}</ref>

==In translation==
{{see also|Translation#Source and target texts}}
In [[translation]], a source text (ST) is a text written in a given [[Source language (translation)|source language]] which is to be or has been, translated into another language. According to [[Jeremy Munday]]'s definition of translation, "the process of translation between two different written languages involves the changing of an original written text (the source text or ST) in the original verbal language (the source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal language (the target language or TL)".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Introducing Translation Studies: theories and applications (4th ed.)|last=Munday|first=Jeremy |authorlink=Jeremy Munday |publisher=Routledge |year=2016|isbn=978-1138912557|location=London/New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introducingtrans0004mund/page/8 8]|url=https://archive.org/details/introducingtrans0004mund/page/8}}</ref> The terms 'source text' and 'target text' are preferred over 'original' and 'translation' because they do not have the same positive vs. negative value judgment.

Translation scholars including [[Eugene Nida]] and [[Peter Newmark]] have represented the different approaches to translation as falling broadly into source-text-oriented or target-text-oriented categories.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Introducing Translation Studies: theories and applications (4th ed.)|last=Munday|first=Jeremy|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=978-1138912557|location=London/New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introducingtrans0004mund/page/67 67–74]|url=https://archive.org/details/introducingtrans0004mund/page/67}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Journalism sourcing]]
* [[Source (disambiguation)]]
* [[Source literature]]
* [[Text (disambiguation)]]
* [[Wikisource]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Translation]]
[[Category:Translation studies]]
[[Category:Sources]]