A tertiary source is a selection, distillation, summary or compilation of primary sources, secondary sources, or both. 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.
Typical instances of tertiary sources are bibliographies, library catalogs, directories, reading lists and survey articles. Encyclopedias and textbooks are examples of materials that typically embrace both secondary and tertiary sources, presenting on the one hand commentary and analysis, while on the other attempting to provide a synoptic overview of the material available on the topic.
By contrast, a primary source presents material from a first-hand witness to a phenomenon, and a secondary source commonly provides interpretation, commentary, analysis and criticism of primary sources.
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Last updated on Sunday June 15, 2008 at 14:53:01 PDT (GMT -0700)
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