Research for History Papers

Using Primary

and Secondary Sources to Study World War I

Nancy McEnery, Librarian

Primary Sources

• Documents that give a rich sense of life in the time period, as told by it’s participants

• Diaries• Letters• Photographs• First-hand accounts• Sound recordings

Primary Sources: Photos

Primary sources: Photos

Primary Sources: Diaries

The Personal Diary of Bill Schira

March 4, 1918 to July 6, 1919

Primary Sources: Letters

“A Poet of the Air”

Letters of Jack Morris Wright First Lieutenant of American Aviation in France

April, 1917 to January, 1918.

Primary Sources: Maps

Bibliographic or Secondary Sources

• What other’s have written about a topic

• books• articles from

magazines & scholarly journals.

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More Secondary Sources

How do historians research?

• They read books.• They get direction

from citations in their reading.

• They use primary sources and back them up with secondary sources.

Consider as you do research

• Use both primary and secondary sources to research a topic in history.

How do Scientists Research?

• Scientists are concerned with the results of other’s research.

• They go to peer-reviewed journals like Nature to read original research results.

• **But not every article in Nature or Science Journal will be original research!

Primary Source

A Word of Caution:

• Not every article in the journals will be research articles. Some will include book reviews and other materials that are more obviously secondary sources.

• (remember, a secondary source is something written about a primary source. secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material).

More difficult to differentiate from original articles are review articles. They are not primary sources because they “review” previously published materials.

In the Sciences,

• primary literature refers to the first place a scientist publishes the results of scientific investigations.

The surface of the sun shows rapidly changing patterns due to convection

How can you tell if it’s original research (or a primary source?)

• Primary research articles use a common format:

• Look for a methods section (sometimes called materials & methods).

• Look for results (usually followed with charts & statistical tables).

• Look for a discussion section.• Look for language like “we tested”, “in our study”

or “we measured” tell you that the article is reporting original research.

Where the Confusion Begins…

• The distinction between types of sources can get tricky, because a secondary source may also be a primary source.

Primary or Secondary?

• Gary Wills’ book about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, for example, can be looked at as both a secondary and a primary source. The distinction may depend on how you are using the source and the nature of your research.

• If you are researching about Abraham Lincoln, the book would be a secondary source because Wills is offering his opinions about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

• If your assignment is to write a book review of Lincoln at Gettysburg, the book becomes a primary source, because you are commenting, evaluating, and discussing Gary Wills’ ideas.