Epidemics: Plagues, Peoples and Politics
This historic image depicts an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer using a muscle evaluation test for polio on this young patient.
EIS is the country's critical epidemiology training service, combating the causes of major epidemics. Over the past 50 years, EIS officers have played pivotal roles in combating the root causes of major epidemics.
Image url: http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp (No longer available at this url)
Image courtesy of: Public Health Image Library (PHIL), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
What is a "primary source"?
Primary source is a term used to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied; original research, data or material derived from research is also considered primary source material.
In history, a primary source (also called original source or evidence) can be an artifact, a document, a recording, newspaper article or other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic, peoples, society, event, etc. In the sciences, a primary source can be materials such as research articles, original data, field observations, laboratory notebooks.
Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources, although sometimes the distinction isn't clear. A secondary source may also be a primary source, depending on how it is used. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, with sources judged primary or secondary according to specific historical or discipline-specific contexts and what is being studied. For example, if a book (text) uses old documents to discover a new conclusion it is considered to be the primary source material for that conclusion.
Systematic browsing is especially useful in dealing with primary records. Primary records are those generated by a particular event, by those who participated in the event, or by those who directly witnessed it; and they are often unpublished. Thus, for example, a researcher interested in World War II propaganda would be interested in such primary sources as copies of leaflets dropped from airplanes, typescript accounts of the flights written by those who planned or flew them, and firsthand accounts of civilians on the ground who found such leaflets. (from: Thomas Mann, The Oxford Guide to Library Research, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Whether a source is primary also depends on its age. For example, encyclopedias are generally considered tertiary sources, but Pliny's Naturalis Historia, first published in the 1st century, is a primary source for information about the Roman era. Another example of books being considered primary source materials are those titles found in Early English Books Online (EEBO). Also, secondary and tertiary sources can lead you to the discovery of primary source materials.
Primary source materials are not always organized or indexed in the same way that books or journal articles are, with the exception of newspaper articles. Often you need to go to historical societies, libraries or in some cases the local newsroom to get access to the materials you need.
However, there are electronic resources that you can use to lead you to excellent primary sources. With the exception of a few web sites, all of these sources can be found through Tisch Library's Classic Catalog.
Use the tabs on this research guide to lead you to specific resources to locate primary source materials.
