Long-Term Care

Primary Sources

For certain assignments you might be asked to use primary sources. Primary sources are works created at the time of an event, or by a person who directly experienced an event.

It is the content that matters and an on-line source can still be a primary source. For example, an online copy of a newspaper from May 8, 1945, is still a primary source even though the original article has been digitized.

Primary sources can include:

• Interviews, diaries, letters, journals, speeches, autobiographies, and witness statements
• Original hand-written manuscripts
• Government documents and public records
• Art, photographs, films, maps, fiction, and music
• Newspaper and magazine clippings
• Artifacts, buildings, furniture, and clothing

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are works that are written after the original event or experience; they provide criticism or interpretation of the event or experience.

Some examples of secondary sources are:

• Textbooks
• Biographies
• Historical films, music, and art
• Articles about people and events from the past