Research Help | Primary and Secondary Sources

Historical research requires careful consideration of several sources in order to ensure a quality paper. There are three main categories of sources consulted in historical research: Primary, Secondary, and Finding. This guide will help you understand their differences.

Primary Sources

A primary source is a document or other piece of "historical evidence" that was written or created during or near the period under study. Because of their close relation to the subject, primary sources usually offer special insight about their topic. The person, organization, or body under study often generates them. There are many examples of primary sources; they vary according to the nature of your topic. Some primary sources are:

• Original Documents: Diaries, manuscripts, speeches, letters, minutes, interviews, news or film footage, autobiographies, and official records and documents
  Note:Translations and excerpts are acceptable.
• Creative Works: Poetry, drama, novels, music, and art
• Relics or Artifacts: Jewelry, pottery, furniture, clothing, and buildings

Some examples of primary sources and subjects for which they might be used are:

• The Diary of Anne Frank: experiences of Jews in World War II
• The Declaration of Independence: American independence from Britain
• Bible: Hebrew customs during biblical times
• Justice Taney's opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford: Historic Supreme Court Decisions
• Arrowheads and potter: Native American history
• U. S. Census Records: trends in population

Secondary Sources

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.  Secondary sources are "one step removed" from the subject under study.  They are usually the result of someone else's contemplation and synthesis of the primary sources.  Secondary sources include (but are not limited to) textbooks, journal articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, and encyclopedias.

Some examples of secondary sources are:
    A book about the effects of World War II
    A journal article which interprets a scholar's contribution in a field
    A chapter in a book discussing the Dred Scott decision
 

I found both primary and secondary sources.  Which gets priority?

When given a choice between primary and secondary sources, primary sources should be given preference.  Secondary sources are useful to help increase your own understanding of a subject and support your point, but primary sources are the essential element in historical research.

It is also important to understand that the line distinguishing primary and secondary sources is not definite.  Rather, the subject of your own study determines their category.  For example:   If you are researching George Washington, the Revolutionary War general, primary sources would include his personal writings and correspondences.  Secondary sources would include biographies about him as well as books and articles about the War.     ...but...

If you are researching interpretations of the leadership of George Washington, and how interpretations may have changed over the years, then the biographies about him become your primary sources.  In this case, the scholarly work and analyses are being studied, and not the life of the man.

3. Finding Sources:
Finding sources are access tools that lead you to primary or secondary sources. They include:

Bibliographies - Check to see if a bibliography, or list of sources, has been compiled on your topic.

Catalogs - Library catalogs can help you locate primary and secondary sources.

Periodical Indexes - Print guides to journals & magazines, such as the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and Poole's Index to Periodical Literature; and to newspapers, such as The New York Times Index, can lead you to relevant primary or secondary sources.

Electronic Resources - Online indexes to some primary and many secondary sources are available.  The online index, or database, is the finding source, and the retrieved articles are the primary or secondary sources.
 
 
 

11/05