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Message: 6
From: "The Cunctator" cunctator@gmail.com On 3/17/06, MacGyverMagic/Mgm macgyvermagic@gmail.com wrote:
Primary sources are hard if not impossible to verify. Don't use
them.
I'm hoping you mean "unpublished oral accounts" when you say "primary
sources".
Primary sources are *by definition* preferable to secondary sources in most cases.
There are important exceptions to this. Some types of primary source need interpretation that requires expertise. For example, diaries and autobiographies are often inaccurate and self-serving, and intelligence reports often include rumors and suspicions along with facts. In such a case, it can be better to rely on an expert who has examined the evidence and weighed it against other evidence and context. At least one should check on secondary sources to see whether there is any dispute over the accuracy of the primary source.
Zero.
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