A source text can refer to the original version of a literary work, primary sources for historians, contemporary evidence for journalists, or raw text for computer programs. Translations and edits alter the meaning of literary works, while historians critically analyze sources for biases. Journalists use vetted sources, and computer programs format raw text data.
A source text can be one of many different things, depending on the context in which the term is used. In literature it can refer to the original version of a text that has been adapted or translated. Historians use the term to refer to a piece of evidence on which a given historical argument depends. For a journalist, even a source text is evidence, albeit generally contemporary. Additionally, the term can also refer to a block of raw text that is entered into a computer program as input.
Literary works are often translated or edited for publication. When this is done, the original and complete text of a work is usually revised in its original language. Translators work from this source text to produce translated versions of the text, and editors can abridge or modify parts of a text for reasons ranging from political necessity to considerations of space. Scholars generally prefer to study the original text of a literary work, as each translation or redaction alters the meaning in ways ranging from the subtle to the profound.
History and historiography also depend on the source texts. When historians work with sources, they devote most of their attention to working with primary sources. These materials were written during a certain historical period and convey first-hand, unfiltered information about the past. For a historian, a source text could be anything from official archival documents to published journals to private diaries. Historians place great emphasis on the use of these sources, but also attempt to read them critically, since the authors of such documents almost universally wrote with specific agendas in mind and produced texts that reflect their own views and biases.
Journalists also use source texts. Journalism sourcing is typically based on materials produced in the recent past. Such source materials ideally come from individuals with significant knowledge of a particular history or issue and are similar to sources used by historians, although historians typically work with much older materials. These source materials should also, ideally, be vetted to ensure that they are largely unbiased or, at least, that the bias in the materials is known and can be recognized and circumvented.
Finally, a source text can be text data entered into a computer program. Many computer programs are designed to format a piece of raw text data. Some programs take data from files and import them into database applications. Others take plain text and turn it into hypertext for use in web pages or other specialized applications.
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