Primary and Secondary Sources
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close to the truth of what actually happened during a historical event or time period. Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants in, or observers of, an historical event. The following are generally considered primary sources: Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts and other papers, in which individuals describe events they either saw or participated in, offer firsthand accounts. Many people can experience the same event, but their retelling of the event may be different based on their perspective or point of view. Learning about the same event from different sources helps us to appreciate diverse voices and understand history more fully. Memoirs and autobiographies are generally less reliable since they are usually written long after events occurred and may be distorted by bias, dimming memory or the revised perspective that may come with hindsight.
On the other hand, they are sometimes the only source for certain information. Many kinds of records (births, deaths, marriages; permits and licenses issued; census data; etc.) document conditions in the society. Published materials (books, magazine and journal articles, newspaper articles) may have been written at the time about a particular event. While these are sometimes accounts by participants, in most cases they were written by journalists or other observers. It is important to distinguish between material written at the time of an event as a kind of report, and material written much later, as historical analysis. Photographs, audio recordings and moving pictures or video recordings provide documentation about what happened. Artifacts of all kinds, which include physical objects, buildings, furniture, tools, appliances, household items, clothing, and even toys, enable students to connect with the reality of the past. Ideas and images conveyed in the mass media, and even in literature, film, popular fiction, self-help literature, and textbooks can serve as sources of the culture and psychology of a time period.
What are Secondary Sources?
A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or phenomenon. It is generally at least one step removed from the event and is not written by witnesses to the event. Textbooks and encyclopedias are two examples of secondary sources.
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close to the truth of what actually happened during a historical event or time period. Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants in, or observers of, an historical event. The following are generally considered primary sources: Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts and other papers, in which individuals describe events they either saw or participated in, offer firsthand accounts. Many people can experience the same event, but their retelling of the event may be different based on their perspective or point of view. Learning about the same event from different sources helps us to appreciate diverse voices and understand history more fully. Memoirs and autobiographies are generally less reliable since they are usually written long after events occurred and may be distorted by bias, dimming memory or the revised perspective that may come with hindsight.
On the other hand, they are sometimes the only source for certain information. Many kinds of records (births, deaths, marriages; permits and licenses issued; census data; etc.) document conditions in the society. Published materials (books, magazine and journal articles, newspaper articles) may have been written at the time about a particular event. While these are sometimes accounts by participants, in most cases they were written by journalists or other observers. It is important to distinguish between material written at the time of an event as a kind of report, and material written much later, as historical analysis. Photographs, audio recordings and moving pictures or video recordings provide documentation about what happened. Artifacts of all kinds, which include physical objects, buildings, furniture, tools, appliances, household items, clothing, and even toys, enable students to connect with the reality of the past. Ideas and images conveyed in the mass media, and even in literature, film, popular fiction, self-help literature, and textbooks can serve as sources of the culture and psychology of a time period.
What are Secondary Sources?
A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or phenomenon. It is generally at least one step removed from the event and is not written by witnesses to the event. Textbooks and encyclopedias are two examples of secondary sources.