Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Wheel of Sources!
Quiz Yourself on Primary & Secondary Sources
Test your understanding by completing this two-question quiz on primary and secondary sources
What is a Primary Source?
Primary Sources: What Are They?
- National History Daydefines primary sources as follows:
Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. These materials include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, oral history interviews, documents, photographs, artifacts, or anything else that provides firsthand accounts about a person or event.
Some materials might be considered primary sources for one topic but not for another. For example, a newspaper article about D-Day (which was June 6, 1944) written in June 1944 was likely written by a participant or eyewitness and would be a primary source; an article about D-Day written in June 2001 probably was not written by an eyewitness or participant and would not be a primary source.
Similarly, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered soon after the 1863 battle, is a primary source for the Civil War, but a speech given on the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg in 1963 is not a primary source for the Civil War. If, however, the topic was how Americans commemorate the Civil War, then the 100th anniversary speech would be a primary source for that topic.
Are interviews with experts primary sources? No, an interview with an expert (a professor of Civil War history, for example) is not a primary source, UNLESS that expert actually lived through and has firsthand knowledge of the events being described.
If I find a quote from a historical figure in my textbook or another secondary source and I use the quote in my project, should I list it as a primary source? No, quotes from historical figures which are found in secondary sources are not considered primary sources. The author of the book has processed the quotation, selecting it from the original source. Without seeing the original source for yourself, you don't know if the quotation is taken out of context, what else was in the source, what the context was, etc.
From:Teachinghistory.org. Primary Sources: What Are They?
Secondary Sources: What Are They?
In contrast, a secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. For the purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles. Also included would be reference sources like encyclopedias.
For example, the book University of Illinois, 1894-1904: The Shaping of the University , published in 2000, could be used as a secondary source to learn about the UI around the turn of the twentieth century.
For secondary sources, often the best sources are those that have been published most recently. If you use a secondary source that was published decades ago, it is important to know what subsequent scholars have written on the topic and what criticism they have made about the earlier work or its approach to the topic.