Primary Sources are original objects or ideas. A physical object might be a necklace, a photograph, or a scroll. However, they can also be ideas, which could be anything from a phrase to the entire content of a text. They can be distinguished from Secondary Sources, works that analyze other works including Primary Sources, and Tertiary Sources, works that summarize or index other works. A work can be both a Primary Source and a Secondary Source; for example, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species presents new ideas, so it is a Primary Source, but it also analyzes existing ideas, so it is a Secondary Source. Examples of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources are listed below.
Written Primary Sources are contemporary accounts of an event, created by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question. These original documents are often diaries, letters, memoirs, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews and other such unpublished works. They may also include published pieces such as newspaper or magazine articles (as long as they are written soon after the fact and not as historical accounts), photographs, audio or video recordings, research reports in the natural or social sciences, or original literary or theatrical works. Examples of primary sources are:
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This video from Hartness Library goes into further detail about the difference between a primary and secondary source.
Secondary Sources are one or more steps removed from the event or phenomenon under review. Secondary source materials interpret, assign values to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources. These are usually in the form of published works such as journal articles or books, but may include radio or television documentaries, or conference proceedings. Examples of secondary sources are:
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The following video from the University of Georgia Library explains what a primary source is and how it differs from a secondary source.
Tertiary Sources index, organize, compile, or digest other sources. Examples of Tertiary Sources are:
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