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Primary Sources are original, first-hand materials about people, places, or events created by people who were personally involved.
Some examples include:
- Books, magazine and newspaper articles published at the time
- Hand-written documents like diaries and journals
- Maps
- Laws & court cases
- Speeches, interviews, letters
- Memoirs and autobiographies
- literary manuscripts
- Records of government agencies
- Records of organizations
- Public opinion polls
- Fiction from a particular time and place
- Research data
- Religious or philosophical texts
- Artifacts of all kinds: physical objects, furniture, tools, clothing, etc.
- Photographs, audio recordings, movies and videos
- Art, including paintings, prints and other media
Secondary Sources are analyses of people, places, or events created by those who were not present.
Some examples include:
- Books written by an expert who explains (anaylzes) events....using primary sources
- Newspaper and magazine articles written about past events
- Newspaper and magazine articles written with a point of view (anaylzing events)
- Websites written with a point of view
- Videos, films created about past events
