1. An Introduction to Primary and Secondary Sources

2. What are primary sources?
Original records from the past recorded by people who were:
Involved in the event
Witnessed the event first hand
These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event

3. What are primary sources?
They can also be objects (artifacts) or visual evidence.
They give you an idea about what people alive at the time saw or thought about the event.

4. What are primary sources?
Keep in mind that a primary source reflects only one point of view and may contain a person’s bias (prejudice) toward an event.

5. Some types of Primary Sources include:
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

6. Examples of Primary Sources include:
The Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII 
The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History 
A journal article reporting NEW research or findings 
Weavings and pottery - Native American history 
Plato’s Republic - Women in Ancient Greece 

7. Examples of Words that Would Identify a Source as Primary:
Diaries
Early works
Interviews
Manuscripts
Oratory
Pamphlets
Personal narratives
Sources
Speeches
Letters
Documents

8. What are secondary sources?
Secondary sources are made at a later time.
They include written information by historians or others AFTER an event has taken place.

9. What are secondary sources?
Although they can be useful and reliable, they cannot reflect what people who lived at the time thought or felt about the event.
But they can represent a more fair account of the event because they can include more than one point of view, or may include information that was unavailable at the time of the event.

10. What is a Secondary Source?
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.
These sources are one or more steps removed from the event.
Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes, or graphics of primary sources in them.

11. Examples of secondary sources:
Textbooks, biographies, histories, newspaper report by someone who was not present

12. Examples of secondary sources:
Charts, graphs, or images created AFTER the time period.

13. Some types of secondary sources include:
PUBLICATIONS:
Textbooks
Magazine articles
Histories
Criticisms
Commentaries
Encyclopedias 

14. Examples of secondary sources include:
A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings 
A history textbook 
A book about the effects of WWI 

15. Understand yet?