Primary and Secondary Sources
Secondary
A secondary source is a source that was not created first-hand by someone who participated in the historical era. Secondary sources are usually created by historians, but based on the historian's reading of primary sources. Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not centuries, after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event or issue. The purpose of a secondary source is to help build the story of your research from multiple perspectives and to give your research historical context.
(http://www.nhd.org/ConductingResearch.htm)
Secondary Sources include but are not limited to:
A secondary source is a source that was not created first-hand by someone who participated in the historical era. Secondary sources are usually created by historians, but based on the historian's reading of primary sources. Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not centuries, after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event or issue. The purpose of a secondary source is to help build the story of your research from multiple perspectives and to give your research historical context.
(http://www.nhd.org/ConductingResearch.htm)
Secondary Sources include but are not limited to:
- Biographies
- Histories
- Literary Criticism
- Book, Art, and Theater Reviews
- Newspaper articles that interpret
Primary
A primary source is a piece of information about a historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. The purpose of primary sources is to capture the words, the thoughts and the intentions of the past. Primary sources help you to interpret what happened and why it happened.
(http://www.nhd.org/ConductingResearch.htm)
Primary Sources include but are not limited to:
A primary source is a piece of information about a historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. The purpose of primary sources is to capture the words, the thoughts and the intentions of the past. Primary sources help you to interpret what happened and why it happened.
(http://www.nhd.org/ConductingResearch.htm)
Primary Sources include but are not limited to:
- Diaries, journals, and letters
- Newspaper and magazine articles
- Government documents
- Photographs, posters, postcards, and maps
- Interviews with participants
- Songs, plays, novels, and stories
- Paintings, drawings, and sculptures
(http://www.nhd.org/ConductingResearch.htm)