Humanists commonly research a primary source such as a sculpture, painting, poem, or bibliography of a person. Primary sources are also books that are used in research as opposed to a journal, which is considered a secondary source. Secondary sources are ones that pull from other resources for their content. While secondary sources are utilized in humanities they are not as prominent as they are in scientific research. Textual primary sources typically provide historical content that is the foundation in humanities research.
Scientific research is dependent on timely information.
If it is out of date it is useless for the science researcher. Text is very important to the humanities not only in research but also in the physical form. Those in the humanities are more accustomed to working with books and bestow upon them an authority that is not as established in the sciences. This leads to a loyalty to print information sources. It is a natural tendency for those in the humanities to not be as familiar with computers as those in the sciences are.