Locating the Right Reference Tools: Primary & Secondary Sources

Locating the Right Reference Tools: Primary & Secondary Sources

What's the difference?

• Primary sources allow you to read the documents that were written in the time an event happened.
• A secondary source presents material about an event that is interpreted by someone after the time in which the event occurred.

Primary source materials are contemporary accounts of an event and original documents about that event.

Examples: letters, diaries, audio recordings of speeches, newspaper articles, government documents, news footage, eyewitness accounts, and so on.

Examples of primary resources

        * a person close to the event or topic you're investigating. A person who lived during the Great Depression would be a primary source for a report on the Depression. You would gather information through an interview process.
        * a real journal, a letter, or a document from the time period you are investigating
        * photographs, audio or video recordings taken at the actual event

Secondary source material is written or reported at some point after an event occurred by someone other than the originator.

Examples: books, articles, editorials, reviews, scientific studies

Examples of secondary resources

        * books
        * magazines
        * newspaper articles
        * videos

For instance, a book, magazine, newspaper, or video about the Depression is a secondary source.