What is the difference?
Primary sources are materials original to the time and/or place you are researching.
Secondary sources are materials that contain information synthesized from, or an interpretation of, primary sources
Examples of Primary Sources
- Diaries and autobiographies
- Letters
- Speeches
- Maps
- Court records
- News paper articles
- Pamphlets, broadsides, and other Ephemera
- Books written in the time period studied
Examples of Secondary Sources
- Monographs
- Journal articles
- Popular magazine or newspaper articles written about a historic event
