WHAT are Primary Sources? What are Secondary Sources?
Primary sources the “raw materials of history”. They give us firsthand evidence about a person or event in history. Primary Resources include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, interviews, original film footage, photographs, artifacts, autobiographies, memoirs, eyewitness accounts, historic documents, or anything else that provides firsthand accounts about a person or event.
Secondary sources interpret, analyze, or draw conclusions about events after they have taken place. Secondary sources are one or more steps removed from the event. They often use primary sources such as photographs and quotes. Examples include history and reference books, magazines, and encyclopedias. CAN YOU TELL THEM APART?
WHY Use Primary Sources in your investigation or research?
WHERE can you find Primary Resources?
Tips when using the BHS Library Catalog:
1. Search for PRIMARY SOURCES
2. Use Keywords such as DIARY, LETTERS, JOURNAL, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, MEMOIRS, SPEECHES, etc.
3. Search for the TIME PERIOD or EVENT you are researching and look at the book titles in your results to find the primary sources Ex. Revolutionary War
To search for News back to the 1800s use this search:
The goal of the Google Books Project is to scan every book in existence in the world. Over 30 million books have been scanned and are available for browsing and reading. Only books with a PREVIEW can be read. Since the pages are scanned, information cannot by copied and pasted from the Google Books website.