Transcript Primary and Secondary Resources

Primary and Secondary
Resources
What is a Primary
Source?
Primary Source
• “First hand accounts” from someone
who personally witnessed or
experienced an event.
• They include artifacts (relics),
documents (diaries, newspaper
articles), pictures, paintings, poetry,
and art from a given time period.
Letters/Diary Entries
Artifacts
Paintings, Music, Poetry, Art
What is a Secondary
Source?
Secondary Sources
• “Second hand accounts” (or 3rd or 4th)
from someone who did not personally
witness or experience an event.
• They include textbooks, research
books, encyclopedias, articles in
books or on a website.
• They usually describe, explain or
analyze and event.
Textbooks
Research Books
Questions to Consider
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Where did this information come from?
Who is the author?
How does the author know these details?
Was the author present at the time of the
event or at the event itself?
• What is the author’s perspective?
• How might the author’s perspective be
different from someone else’s who was
present at the same event?
Example
• Imagine that you are looking at a
diary entry from the revolutionary
war.
• How might a diary entry from a
soldier in the Continental Army differ
from a diary entry from a Redcoat
soldier?
So What?
• Both primary and secondary sources
are valuable in our search for
historical understanding.
• Both types of sources may be
subjective based on the author’s
point of view.
• It is essential to evaluate each source
before determining its value.