Research Guides: American History: Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Primary Sources = Original, Firsthand Evidence

Examples of primary sources . . .

Original Documents: diaries, records, autobiographies, letters, interviews, speeches, research reports, photographs, newspaper articles dated near the time of the event, original experiments, raw data, court cases
Original Creative Works: novels, paintings, music scores
Artifacts: pottery, buildings, clothing, weapons, jewelry, etc.

Primary sources are created during the time the event took place, or created later by those who have directly witnessed what they are describing, and bring us as close to the original event or thought as possible without being filtered, influenced or analyzed through interpretation.

Primary Sources Online

World Digital Library
Includes significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.
Primary Source Nexus
List of various collections of primary source material divided by subject from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) website.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Digital content includes historic maps, images, newspapers, letters, and more.

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources = Summary, Evaluation, Analytical Interpretation

Secondary sources analyze or interpret a primary resource and are produced AFTER an event.

Examples of secondary sources . . .

textbooks
encyclopedias
magazine articles
biographies written after someone's death
newspaper articles analyzing a past event
books written about a historical topic

Secondary sources summarize, evaluate, and analytically interpret primary material, often by offering a personal perspective. Use secondary sources to see what others have discussed. They can be a good place to gather background information on a topic. You can also use secondary sources to explore what subtopics have already been explored on a given topic.