Primary vs. Secondary Sources

 Any material produced by eyewitnesses or participants

in an event, historical moment, or original research. Primary Source Examples Photographs

Artifacts, Clothing

Diaries

Videos

Autobiographies

Maps

Interviews

Speeches

Letters

Government Documents

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Original research

A journal article reporting NEW findings Creative works – poetry, drama, music, art

 Secondary sources summarize, explain, comment on,

or draw conclusions from primary sources. They are accounts of the past created by people writing about events after the event. Secondary Source Examples

Textbooks

Criticisms

Encyclopedias

Commentaries/Documentaries

Magazine articles

Reports

A book about…

A journal which interprets previous findings

Primary Source

Secondary Source

 Score Card from 1919

 The book Eight Men Out

World Series  Photograph of Charlie

Chaplin on a movie set  Interview excerpt with

Jackie Robinson

by Eliot Asinov  Biography of Charlie

Chaplin  Movie titled 42 about

Jackie Robinson

 Did the information come from personal experience?  Did the author conduct original research on the

project?  Is the information uninterpreted data or statistics?

 Is the source an original document or a creative

interpretation?

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Photographs

Textbooks

Diaries/Journals

Encyclopedias

Autobiographies

Magazine Articles

Interviews

Criticisms

Letters

Commentaries/Documentaries

Advertisements

Reports

Artifacts/Clothing Speeches

A journal article that interprets previous findings

Government Documents

A book about…

Original research A journal article reporting NEW findings Creative works – poetry, drama, music art

Keywords: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion