How do you know if a source is primary or secondary?

A primary source gives you direct access to the subject of your research. Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.

What are examples of a primary source?

Examples of primary sources:

Theses, dissertations, scholarly journal articles (research based), some government reports, symposia and conference proceedings, original artwork, poems, photographs, speeches, letters, memos, personal narratives, diaries, interviews, autobiographies, and correspondence.

How do you identify primary sources in an essay?

To find others, try searching Google for your topic along with the phrase “primary sources” or the word “texts”. 5. Depending on the time period you’re researching, primary source databases can be really helpful. Examples of these would be historical newspaper databases and electronic text collections.

How do you identify secondary sources?

Secondary sources can be found in books, journals, or Internet resources.
…
  1. the online catalog,
  2. the appropriate article databases,
  3. subject encyclopedias,
  4. bibliographies,
  5. and by consulting with your instructor.

How do you tell if a source is primary or secondary or tertiary?

Primary: original objects or documents with first-hand information or raw material. Secondary: sources that analyze, interpret, or draw conclusion from a primary source. Tertiary: sources that index, organize, or compile other sources.

Where do you find primary sources in a research paper?

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents
  • National Archives. The National Archives is a fantastic resource. …
  • DocsTeach. Also run by the National Archives, DocsTeach is full of activities for educators. …
  • Spartacus Educational. …
  • Fordham University. …
  • The Avalon Project. …
  • Life Magazine Photo Archive. …
  • Easy iPad Access.

Does primary source mean?

Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning an historical topic under research investigation. Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched.

What is an example of a secondary source?

Secondary sources describe, summarize, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source; meaning the author, in most cases, did not participate in the event. … Examples of a secondary source are: Publications such as textbooks, magazine articles, book reviews, commentaries, encyclopedias, almanacs.

Is a biography a primary source?

For example, an autobiography is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source. Typical secondary sources include: Scholarly Journal Articles. Use these and books exclusively for writing Literature Reviews.

What are primary and secondary sources examples?

Examples of primary sources include manuscripts, newspapers, speeches, cartoons, photographs, video, and artifacts. … Secondary sources often use generalizations, analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include textbooks, articles, and reference books.

What are primary and secondary sources?

Primary sources provide a first-hand account of an event or time period and are considered to be authoritative. They represent original thinking, reports on discoveries or events, or they can share new information. … Secondary sources involve analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of primary sources.

Are textbooks primary sources?

A textbook can either be a secondary or tertiary source and, in seldom cases, a primary source. In most cases, the author of a textbook interprets prescribed theories of a topic and would, therefore, be a secondary source. A textbook can be a tertiary source when it simply indexes information about a particular topic.

Is a photo a primary source?

Introduction. Primary sources are firsthand accounts or direct evidence of an event or period under study. These types of sources include, but are not limited to, letters, interviews, photographs, and cultural artifacts such as coins, everyday objects, and works of art.

Is social media a primary source?

Social media posts from services like Instagram and Twitter can also be primary sources. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.

Is speech a primary source?

Types of primary sources include: Original documents like diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, and official records.

Is Wikipedia a primary source?

Wikipedia’s main namespace is an encyclopedia and thus a tertiary source. Wikipedia avoids describing topics that never have been described before — doing otherwise qualifies as performing original research.

Is a magazine a primary source?

Newspaper and Magazine Articles. Articles from magazines and newspapers from the time of an event are another type of primary source. … Articles from larger newspapers and magazines are more likely to be indexed in a database.

Is a receipt a primary source?

PRIMARY source evidence provides historians with the facts to work with. Journals, documents, contemporary records such as newspapers, receipts, and even material evidence such as clothing or dishes all exist as facts, or Primary Source Evidence.

Are textbooks a primary or secondary source?

Secondary sources describe, interpret or analyze information obtained from other sources (often primary sources). Examples of secondary sources include many books, textbooks, and scholarly review articles.

What makes a good primary source?

Primary sources can either be first-hand observation/analysis, or accounts contemporary with the events described. Primary sources document events, people, viewpoints of the time. When research is more era, rather than event driven, scope of possible primary sources broadens considerably.