1. Primary or Secondary Source?

2. Primary Sources Defined
First hand or eye-witness account
Created at the time of the event or very soon after
Rare and often one of a kind
Offer an inside view of an event
May be a document or a physical object

3. Types of Primary Sources
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records 
CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art 
RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

4. Primary Source Example: A Wood Engraving
Market Scene in Macon, Georgia (African American Peddlers) Wood engraving of sketch by A.R. Waud.
Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1867 July 13, p. 437
Library of Congress LC-USZ

5. Primary Source Example : A Panoramic Map
Macon, Ga. county seat of Bibb County 1887 H. Wellge, sk. Beck & Pauli Lith. Co.
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division (g3924m pm001270)

6. Primary Source Example : A Photograph
488 Macon, Ga. Lewis W. Hine Bibb Mill No. 1
Library of Congress National Child Labor Committee Collection LC-DIG-nclc-01581 

7. Primary Source Example : Magazine Illustration
Title: [Georgia cracker types] Creator(s)
Kemble, E. W. (Edward Windsor), , artist
Date Created/Published: 1891 Feb. [publication date]
Three bust-length studies of mill workers in Georgia.
Published as illustration in: "The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mills." Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, February, 1891.

8. Primary Source Example: An Interview
Bea, The Washwoman
February 1, 1939
Sarah Hill (Negro)
157 Church Street
Athens, Georgia
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,

9. Secondary Sources Defined
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.
These sources are one or more steps removed from the event either by time or location.
Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them.

10. Types of Secondary Sources
Textbook
Magazine articles
Histories
Commentaires
Encyclopedia (Wikipedia)
America’s Library
Today In History