Primary and Secondary Sources

of
Information

Er. Sunali Sharma

Assistant Professor in CS & IT
Hindu Kanya College
Kapurthala
 What is Information?

1. Data processed with knowledge

2. Data endowed with relevance and purpose
3. Data becomes information when its
creator adds meaning
4. An organized, meaningful, and useful
interpretation of data
 Methods For Capturing Data

1. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) - OCR technology

is used to capture data from structured documents.

2. Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) - ICR technology

is an adapted version of OCR, the difference being that ICR
is able to read handwritten text and convert it into computer
readable information.

3. Automatic Data Capture - Once documents have been

OCR or ICR scanned, automatic data capture software can
identify and extract key information from forms.
 Methods For Capturing Data

4. Paperless Forms - Data is captured using a mobile device and can be

transferred straight into office systems, with no paper processing involved
or delays.

5. Barcode Technology - Barcode technology is a data capture method

that allows metadata such as customer name, address and contact
numbers to be pre populated into barcode format prior to forms being sent.

6. Double Blind Data Entry - Double blind data entry is a form of manual
data entry using two operators and validation software to increase
accuracy.
Types to Capture Information

1. Primary Sources of Information

2. Secondary Sources of Information

 Primary Sources of Information

1. A primary source is an original object or document;

first-hand information.
2. Primary source is material written or produced in the
time period that you may be investigating.
3. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close
as possible to what actually happened during an
historical event or time period.
 Primary Sources
“Advantages”

1. Primary sources provide a window into the past—

unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social,
scientific and political thought and achievement
during the specific period under study, produced by
people who lived during that period
2. these unique, often profoundly personal,
documents and objects can give a very real sense of
what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
 Primary Sources
“Disadvantages”

1. Questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of

view may challenge students’ assumptions.
2. Primary sources are often incomplete and have little
context. Students must use prior knowledge and
work with multiple primary sources to find patterns
3. In analyzing primary sources, students move from
concrete observations and facts to questioning and
making inferences about the materials.
 Primary Source

1.Diaries and journals - A diary is mainly used to write things

you would like to remember - daily activities, how the day was
spent, what was done, the daily routine and anything that
needs to get done. A personal journal is a record of significant
experiences. It is much more personal than a diary
 Primary Source

2. Autobiographies - An autobiography is when you write a

story or book about yourself. The purpose of
an autobiography is to give you a first-hand account into the
life of the person you are reading about, and to give you a
better insight into how their experiences have shaped them as
a person.
 Primary Source

3. Speeches – Speeches are considered Primary Sources.

Speeches typically serve four general purposes:
to inform, encourage, instruct, or entertain.
 Primary Source

4. Historical documents - such as the Declaration of

Independence or the Constitution are primary documents.
They were drafted and signed.
 Primary Source

5. Birth Certificates - birth certificate is a vital record that

documents the birth of a child.
 Primary Source
6. Government records - Government records are defined as
recorded information in any form, created or received in the
conduct of government business and kept as evidence of
activities and transactions.
 Primary Source
7. Deeds - A deed is the
document that transfers
ownership of real estate. It
contains the names of the old
and new owners and a legal
description of the property, and
is signed by the person
transferring the property.
 Primary Source
8. Court documents - Its
importance has increased
because of the vast and quickly
increasing amount of legal
documents available through
electronic means
 Primary Source
9. Military records - The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
and the Privacy Act provide balance between the right of the
public to obtain information from military service records and
the right of the former military service member to protect
his/her privacy.
 Primary Source
10. Tax records - Income Tax Return is the form in which
assessee files information about his Income and tax thereon
to Income Tax Department.
 Primary Source
11. Census records - The Indian Census is the most credible
source of information on Demography (Population
characteristics), Economic Activity, Literacy & Education,
Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanization, Fertility and
Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language,
Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural
and demographic data since 1872.
 Primary Source
12. Art - Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating
visual, auditory or performing artifacts, expressing the
author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill,
intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional
power.[
 Primary Source

13. Published Work - One of the

copyrights granted to the author of
a work is the exclusive right
to publish the work. First-hand
accounts, books or stories are
considered primary resources.
 Primary Source

14. Sound Recordings and interviews – Interviews and sound recordings

are considered as primary source of information.
 Primary Source

15. Photographs and videos are primary sources.

 Primary Source

16. Letters are considered primary documents.

 Secondary Source

A secondary source of information is one that was created

later by someone who did not experience first-hand or
participate in the events
 What is a Secondary Source?
1. A secondary source is something written about a primary
source.
2. Secondary sources are written "after the fact" - that is, at a
later date.
3. Usually the author of a secondary source will have studied
the primary sources of an historical period or event and will
then interpret the "evidence" found in these sources.
4. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand
information.
 Secondary Sources
“Advantages”
1. Secondary sources can provide analysis, synthesis,
interpretation, or evaluation of the original information.
2. Secondary sources are best for uncovering background or
historical information about a topic and broadening your
understanding of a topic by exposing you to others’
perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions
3. Allows the reader to get expert views of events and often
bring together multiple primary sources relevant to the
subject matter
 Secondary Source
“Disadvantages”

1. Their reliability and validity are open to question,

and often they do not provide exact information
2. They do not represent first hand knowledge of a
subject or event
3. There are countless books, journals, magazine
articles and web pages that attempt to interpret the
past and finding good secondary sources can be an
issue
 Secondary Source

1. Biography - A biography is when you write about another

person’s life.
 Secondary Source

2. Encyclopedias, history books (textbooks), etc. are all

secondary sources because they were written “after” the these
events occurred.
 Primary or Secondary Sources

3. Newspaper and Magazine articles can be a primary or secondary

sources.
Thank You