Primary & Secondary Sources

Primary Source: First-hand information from a person who

witnessed or lived through an event. Actual records that have survived from the

past.

Examples: Diaries Memoirs Letters Photographs Official documents / records Manuscripts Newspapers Legal cases (transcripts) Interviews Oral histories

• Personal narratives• Research data / reports• Statistics• Documentaries• Artifacts• Coins• Stamps

Analysis of Primary Sources Some sources are more reliable than

others. Since primary sources are taken during an event, they always have a bias, or slanted point of view in favor or against , the idea or concept at hand. Because of this, historians use certain rules to analyze primary sources to read them skeptically and critically.

Time and Place Rule The closer in time and place a source and

its creator are to an event, the better and more reliable the source will be.

Which is more reliable according to the time and place rule?

A soldier’s letter home during WWII An interview with a WWII soldier 30 years after the

war

Bias Rule Every primary source is biased in some

way. The creator’s point of view must be considered and also compared with other related sources.

Which is more reliable according to the bias rule?

A diary A news report

Secondary Source: Description by a person usually not present

at the event, relying on primary sources for information.

Usually analyze and interpret primary sources.

Accounts of the past created by people writing about the topic long after the events.

Examples Novels Non-fiction books Encyclopedias Textbooks Research papers Informational material – websites, TV

shows, magazines, brochures, posters, etc.

YouTube ExamplesPearl Harbor Primary speech/photos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhtuMrMVJDk Secondary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMgvXhwiWU

Apollo 13 Primary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ek9g_eN0Q Primary Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4fYb-zwdE Secondary https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=czP0aYQfNHk