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Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources: What is a Tertiary Source?

What are Tertiary Sources?

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources offer a summary of a topic, event or condition and include primary and secondary sources. Indexes that guide users to specific locations within a book or source are also considered tertiary.  Many reference books are considered tertiary sources.

Tertiary sources include:

  • Almanacs
  • Bibliographies
  • Chonologies
  • Indexes
  • Manuals
  • Textbooks

 Some sources are both secondary and tertiary like dictionaries and encyclopedias.

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Examples from the Library Collection

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