Final answer:
The answer explains that primary sources for private bids include invitations from owners or consultants, advertisements in newspapers, and architectural and engineering consultants, while business contacts are not considered primary as they can only direct to a primary source but are not themselves primary sources.
Step-by-step explanation:
When it comes to sourcing information for private bids, several primary sources can be leveraged by a corporation or an individual. However, not all sources can be considered primary. Primary sources provide direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art and are typically created by witnesses or first recorders of these events at the time they occurred. Included among primary sources of information for private bids are invitations from owners or consultants, which are personal and direct calls to an entity to participate in the bidding process, often containing intricate details of the bid requirements.
Advertisements in newspapers are also primary sources as they publicly announce the opportunity to bid and provide necessary information for potential bidders to determine their interest and capability to respond. Another primary source is information from architectural and engineering consultants; these are the technical experts who are often directly involved in the creation of the bid specifications and therefore have firsthand knowledge of the project.
One source that is not considered a primary source of information for private bids, however, are business contacts. While useful, these are secondary sources because they provide information that has been passed through from the original source, and may include interpretations or alterations. Business contacts may direct one to a primary source but are not themselves primary sources in the context of sourcing bids.