Primary Sources: Provide firsthand evidence about an event, person or work, oftentimes providing the original materials for additional research by scholars and students. Primary sources can be in multiple formats.
- Autobiographies and memoirs
- Diaries, personal letters, correspondence
- Interviews, surveys, fieldwork
- Internet communications on email, blogs, social media, listservs and newsgroups
- Photographs, drawings, posters
- Works of art and literature
- Book, magazine and newspaper articles published at the time of the event or issue
- Public opinion polls
- Speeches and oral histories
- Birth certificates, deeds, trial transcripts
- Data sets, census statistics
- Records of organizations and government agencies
- Artifacts such as tools, coins, clothing, furniture
- Audio recordings, DVDs, and video recordings
- Government documents
- Patents,
- Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results
Secondary Sources: Describe, discuss, interpret, comment on, analyze, evaluate, summarize primary sources. A secondary source is generally one or more steps removed from the event or time period are created after the fact with the benefit of hindsight.
- Biographical works
- Bibliographies, reference works
- Documentaries
- Articles from magazines, journals and newspapers reported after the event
- Literature reviews
- History books and academic books
- Textbooks