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German Language & Literature

German Texts

What is a Primary Source?

Primary source: In scholarship, a document or record containing firsthand information or original data on a topic. Primary sources include original manuscripts, articles reporting original research or thought, diaries, memoirs, letters, journals, photographs, drawings, posters, film footage, sheet music, songs, interviews, government documents, public records, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, etc.  Glossary of Library and Research Terms.

A book which is the edited text of a manuscript, diary, or other type of primary source is also a primary source.  Thus, the printed editions of The Parliament rolls of medieval England 1275 - 1504 is also a primary source even though it was published in 2005.

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