Primary Source
What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is a record of a person, event, or occurrence that was created by an eye-witness or participant's version of an event. Primary sources allow researchers to gain better insight into historical figures and events.
Examples of Primary Sources:
Diaries
Letters
Notes from lab experiments
Photographs
Blogs
Emails
Maps
Scrapbooks
Facebook pages
Poetry
Artwork
Birthday cards
Office records
Artifacts
Secondary Source
What is a Secondary source?
Secondary sources are created by individuals who were not direct participants in an event. For example, books on Ball State University history are secondary sources because the author analyzes, interprets, retells, or explains events for which he was not present and did not personally witness. Secondary sources help you understand a topic and give you different views of historical people, events, and occurrences.
Examples of Secondary Sources:
Biographies
Encyclopedia
Term Papers
Theses
Dissertations
History books
Magazine articles
Journal articles
Web sites
Documentaries