Primary Sources

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Primary Sources

• valuable resources that you dont want to
  overlook!

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What are primary sources?

• Primary sources are the original items or
  records that have survived from the past. They
  are part of a direct personal experience of a
  time or event. Letters, manuscripts,
  photographs, articles of clothing and sheet music
  are all examples of primary sources.

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What are secondary sources?

• Secondary sources, usually written after an
  event takes place, are created by documenting
  someone elses experience to provide a
  perspective for a past event. The sources we use
  most frequently are often secondary sources --
  encyclopedias, textbooks, magazines, biographies,
  and documentary movies.

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Kinds of Primary Sources

• Published documents
• Unpublished documents
• Visual documents
• Recordings
• Oral histories and traditions
• Artifacts

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Published documents are created for wide
audiences.

• Books
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Government documents
• Reports
• Advertisements

• Maps
• Pamphlets
• Posters
• Sheet music
• Manuscripts
• Ordinances

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Examples of Published Documents
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Unpublished documents are seldom meant to be read
by the public and can be difficult to find.

• Letters and diaries
• Journals
• Wills
• Deeds
• Financial ledgers
• Meeting minutes
• Architectural drawings
• Blueprints

• Land surveys
• Census data
• Family Bibles
• Research files
• Speeches
• Police court records
• Tax and voter records

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Examples of Unpublished
Documents
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Visual documents capture moments in time.

• They demonstrate the changes in cultures and
  customs.
• They present the point of view of the creator --
  a photographer, filmmaker, painter, or sculptor.
• Photographs, posters, film, video, fine art
  paintings and sculptures are visual documents .

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Examples of Visual Documents
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Recordings include...

• Oral histories
• Interviews
• Music
• Popular lyrics
• Famous political speeches
• Broadcasts from radio or TV

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Examples of Recorded Documents
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Oral Histories and Traditions

• This is cultural or historical information passed
  from generation to generation through the spoken
  word. Life history interviews may also include a
  variety of songs and narratives as well as
  accounts of ethnic traditions for planting,
  cooking, marriage, death, celebrations, and
  recreation.

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Examples of Oral Histories and Traditions
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Artifacts

• Artifacts are objects that have survived from
  times past -- some for thousands of years -- that
  supply a concrete link to our past. Any items
  representing daily life or significant events of
  a former era such as weapons, tools, inventions,
  and clothing are considered artifacts.

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Examples of Artifacts
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How reliable are primary
sources?

• Every document, visual, recording, or artifact
  has a creator and every creator has a point of
  view. When using any source, even the original,
  it is important to remember this.
• However, the more often something is repeated,
  the less accurate and trustworthy it becomes.
  Therefore going directly to the primary source is
  preferred.

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Why use primary sources?

• Most of what happens in the past is either never
  documented or destroyed. What does remain gives
  us valuable clues about life before our time.
• Conscientious researchers examine primary
  resources themselves as well as taking advantage
  of the explanations, suggestions and criticisms
  made by scholars in secondary sources.

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Resource for this Power Point

• The Learning Page. American Memory
  Historical Collections for the National Digital
  Library. 9-26-02. The Library of Congress.
  10-2502. http//memory. loc.gov/ammem/nd/ped/in
  dex/html.
• Robinson, James Harvey. The Historical Point
  of View. Readings in European History.
  Boston Ginn, 1904.