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AMST 101: Topics in American Studies - New York, New York (Belanger)

COURSE | AMST 101: Topics in American Studies - New York, New York (Belanger)

Types of Sources

There are three types of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Each source type has a different purpose, determined by how it is used in relation to the other sources you are using and the scope of your research.  It is important to use a strong mixture of source types in order to have well rounded research. 

Primary Source - The Original (idea, theory, resource, item, etc.)

Secondary Source - Commentary (analysis, criticism, critique) on the Original

Tertiary Source - Summary of the Original (e.g. Reference Resources)

Primary Source Secondary Source Tertiary Source
"Votes for Women" Pin Magazine Article on Women's Suffrage in Philadelphia Reader's Companion to Women's Suffrage
The Play "Waiting for Godot" Journal Article on the Play Samuel Beckett: A Reference Guide
Scholarly Article of an Experiment Scholarly Article that Critiques Experiment Encyclopedia Entry on Special Relativity
Letter from Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore Chapter from a Book on Edwardian Literature Dictionary of English Literature Entry
Comic Strip First Depicting the Bechdel Test Criticism of the Bechdel Test Wikipedia Article on the Bechdel Test
Performance of an Opera Review of the Performance Synopsis of the Opera

Newspapers

For this project you will need to find at least one historical newspaper article. Some news papers will be housed in primary resource databases, however we do have a few specific historic newspaper databases:

Image Databases