Primary & Secondary

Sources

Developed by Elin Richmond

using illustrations from National Geographic’s Journey Through Time

Some types of primary sources

include:

Art  Pottery

FurnitureClothing

Buildings Diaries

Speeches Letters

InterviewsNews film footageAutobiographiesOfficial records 

Primary Sources A primary source is a document or object that was written or created by the

people who experienced the events being studied.

Some specific examples of

primary sources include:

Diary of Anne Frank

The Constitution

Paleolithic cave paintings

Your own diary

Some types of secondary sources

include:

Biographies

Articles

Non-fiction text

Internet resources

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is developed by people who researched the event, but did NOT experience them first hand. These sources interpret and analyze a primary source.

These sources can include quotes or pictures from a primary source.

Some specific examples of

secondary sources include:

Your Social Studies text book

Martin Luther King JR (a biography)

Video about Ötzi

Comparing Primary & Secondary

Sources • Imagine for example a person being interviewed on TV about an accident they witnessed.

• Then consider how authentic that interview would be in comparison to if the person that witnessed the accident, told his friend, that told her cousin, and THEN the cousin was being interviewed about the accident.

• However, sometimes a secondary source is the best option we have. For example, your Social Studies book was written by educated authors, using many reliable sources to put all the information into one book.

Why do I need to know this?

• This knowledge will help you to be able to distinguish a primary source from a secondary source.

• This knowledge should enable you to be a better judge of what is authentic and what could be swayed by personal opinion.

• Remember that a primary source is in a way an eye-witness to an event.