LibGuides: *History Research Guide*: Primary/Secondary Sources

Primary vs. Secondary Sources and Content

Primary Sources

First-hand accounts by people who experienced event.
A person's account of own feelings, actions, or experiences.
Object or document that comes directly from person, place, or event being researched.

Secondary Sources

Second-hand accounts by people who did not experience event.
One person's account of someone else's feelings, actions, or experiences.
Object or document that originates much later than person, place, or event being researched.
Contains INTERPRETATIONS, analysis, synthesis.

Content Versus Format

Is a newspaper always primary, and is a book always secondary? NO. "Primary" and "secondary" relate to the CONTENT, not the format.

Primary sources often appear in document types such as letters and newspapers, but a source doesn't have to be primary just because of its format. The same is true of sources on paper versus sources on the Internet, and sources which are duplicated as they appear (by scanning or photographing) versus sources which are transcribed (retyped word for word in plain text) -- it's the content that counts.

It's all about context!

There is nothing inherent in a document or object that automatically makes it always be "primary" or "secondary." Your research question determines whether the source is primary or secondary for your research. The same document could be a primary source for one paper and a secondary source for another paper.

Example: 1975 biography about Abraham Lincoln would probably be a:

Secondary source if you are studying Lincoln’s life.
Primary source if you are studying how people wrote historical biographies in the 1970s.

Library of Congress: Primary Sources

Library of Congress
Main site. Our nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research institution for Congress. Largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.
Library of Congress Digital Collections Access to print, pictorial and audio-visual collections and other digital services The Library of Congress has made digitized versions of collection materials available online since 1994, concentrating on its most rare collections and those unavailable anywhere else.
Primary Documents in American History The Library of Congress was begun with items from the personal collection of President Thomas Jefferson (on display at the LC in Washington D.C.)
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between1690-present.
American Memory
Provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. A digital record of American history and creativity.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

The National Archives (main site)
"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.
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Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family's history, need to prove a veteran's military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you.
National Archives Online Exhibits
Online access to primary sources on a wide range of topics such as the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, President Johnson's diaries, the Civil War, eyewitness accounts of memorable U.S. history events . . .
Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service. "We invite all Americans to participate in a series of events and programs to get us thinking, talking and teaching about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy. At the heart of this initiative are 100 milestone documents of American history."
Presidential Libraries and Museums of the National Archives
SCROLL DOWN this page for direct links to specific presidential libraries.