PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

PRIMARY SOURCES

• Primary Sources—original or firsthand

materials

• Written during time period of topic

• Works by an original author: essays, poems,

plays, artwork, novels, autobiographies,

speeches, e-mails, blogs (when the person is

blogging about himself/herself)

• Original research: surveys, studies, case studies,

interviews

• First-person accounts of events

SECONDARY SOURCES

• Secondary Sources—secondhand accounts, information, or reports about primary sources written or delivered by people who were not direct participants in events or issues being examined

• May or may not be written in the time period of topic• News articles

• Reviews

• Biographies

• Documentaries

• Encyclopedia entries

• Interpretations of works

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• J.R.R. Tolkien’s The

Hobbit

• Primary

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• Critical Essay about The

Hobbit

• Secondary

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• Letter from Thomas

Jefferson to Meriwether

Lewis

• Primary

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• Book of historical essays

debating whether

Meriwether Lewis’ death

was a suicide

• Secondary

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• PBS website about Meriwether LewisSecondary

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

• Documentary

• Secondary

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

• When might it be best to use primary sources?

• When firsthand accounts are important to the topic (historical accounts, literature, etc.)

• When a firsthand account builds credibility for an idea.

• When might it be appropriate to use secondary sources?

• When firsthand accounts aren’t as imperative to the topic.

• When discussing the variety of research that has been done on a topic.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

• Primary sources

• Often more accurate because they have not

been distorted

• Not always a better choice than secondary

sources

• May be biased

• May be difficult to access

• May not always be appropriate for all topics

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

• Secondary sources

• Easier to find and access

• May be more suitable for certain topics

• May be biased, inaccurate, limited in scope, or

incomplete

• Interpretations of events or other works