Primary Sources

"Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are characterized by their content, regardless of their format" (Primary Sources at Yale).

Examples of primary sources:

• Artifacts (coins, plant specimens, fossils, furniture, tools, clothing; all from the time under study) 
• Audio recordings (radio programs, podcasts) 
• Diaries 
• Internet communications on email, listservs Interviews (oral histories, telephone, email) 
• Journal articles in peer-reviewed publications 
• Letters 
• Newspapers written at the time 
• Original documents (birth certificate, will, marriage license, trial transcript)
• Patents Photographs 
• Proceedings of meetings, conferences and symposia 
• Records of organizations, government agencies (annual report, treaty, constitution, government document) 
• Speeches (including transcripts) 
• Survey research (market surveys, public opinion polls) 
• Video recordings (television programs) 
• Works of art, architecture, literature, and music (paintings, sculptures, musical scores, buildings, novels, poems) 
• Web site

 

"... [Secondary sources] are accounts written after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. They are interpretations and evaluations of primary sources" ("Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources").

Examples of secondary sources:

• Bibliographies 
• Biographical works 
• Commentaries, criticisms 
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias 
• Histories 
• Journal articles (depending on the discipline can be primary) 
• Magazine and newspaper articles (this distinction varies by discipline) 
• Monographs, other than fiction and autobiography 
• Textbooks 
• Web site (also considered primary)

 

• Arts and Culture (Google Site) Variety of resources, activities and search by museums.
• Calisphere "The University of California's free public gateway to a world of primary sources." 
• Destiny Quest Monroe library collection. 
• Digital Library School Access and Digital Library Home Access Explore Databases. Accessible at / away from school using SSO. Primary sources will come up in your search results. 
• Finding Library Sources Starting points for finding Library of Congress primary source documents. 
• Library of Congress Access the wealth of our nation's premier library. 
• National Archives A trove of teacher resources and primary source documents. 
• Picturing America US History through art and artifacts. 
• Resources linked to CCSS. 
• Smithsonian Education Teachers, families and students can find lesson plans and materials for K12 teachers.
• Smithsonian Institution Archives Access information on the collection found within the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. 
• World Digital Library Browse by time period, topic, type of item, or institution.

 

Library of Congress Teachers Classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources. 

• SOAPS Primary Source Think Sheet Tool for evaluation of primary sources using the SOAPS mnemonic: Subject, Occasion and Audience, Purpose, Speaker 
• Teaching with Documents include lesson plans from the National Archives. 
• Teaching with Primary Sources using digital primary source materials from the Library of Congress.

"Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources." University Libraries. University of Maryland, 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Primary Sources at Yale. Yale University, 2008. Web. 31 July 2013.