Primary and Secondary

Sources
Gathering and Recording Information
Denitions of Sources:
Primary
A piece of information about a historical event or period
in which the creator of the source was an actual
participant in or a contemporary of a historical
movement.
A primary source can be a written document created by
some one in the past.
A primary source can be an object, place, song, or other
cultural artifact created during the historical period you
are studying.
Denitions of Sources:
Secondary
A source that was not created rst-hand by someone
who participated in the historical era.
Secondary sources are usually created by historians,
but based on the historians reading of primary sources.
Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not
centuries, after the event occurred by people who did
not live through or participate in the event or issue.
Interviews As Primary or
Secondary Sources
Remember...depending on the type or purpose, an
interview can be considered a primary source or
secondary source.
Primary Source: Oral history interviews with people who
lived through the time period you are studying and
participated in the events and social patterns of that
period can be considered primary sources.
Secondary Source: A university professor or other expert
on a topic may provide valuable information that could be
included in a research project. Usually theses experts are
secondary sources.
Interviews cont...
Secondary Source: They (professors) may know a
great deal, but they are usually not actual
eyewitnesses, participants, or contemporaries
commenting on the moment or event. Even
though an interview is a face-to-face experience, it
is not a primary source unless the person
interviewed lived through and witnessed the event
or issue.
Common Mistakes
1) Primary sources does not mean the main source
you use in your project.
2) Primary sources are not fundamentally better than
secondary sources. A good History Day project
depends upon research into both kinds of sources.
3) When you nd primary material within a secondary
source, dont list it as a primary source in your
bibliography.
Primary vs. Secondary?
Do you know? Lets Go!
Diaries
Government Records
(birth/death/marriage
certicates, deeds, titles,
licenses, passports)
Biographies
Encyclopedias
Autobiographies
Interviews with scholars/
experts
Bill of sale of land/
livestock
Copy of a painting with a
narrative text
Physical remains
(mummied humans,
locks of hair, skeletal
fragments, DNA)
Primary vs. Secondary?
Do you know? Cont...
Photographs of World
War I
Interviews with
participants in a strike
that occurred in the
1970s
Manuscript collections
(presidential papers,
family letters, formal
correspondence)
Newspaper/magazine
articles from the era
School history textbook
U.S. News and World
Report story, published in
2003, about WWII
Letters written at the time
of your topic
Primary vs. Secondary?
Do you know? Cont...
Historic objects (the
Liberty Bell, the U.S.
Constitution, the bed in
which Lincoln died)
Church records
(baptismal/marriage/death
records, cemetery logs,
parish rosters)
Paintings
Drawings
Household technology
from an earlier era, such
as a butter churn
Historic sites
Caption created by a
modern author for a
photograph from the
1940s
Media documentaries
about a historic event
Paraphrasing
What does the word paraphrase mean?
When you nd an important piece of information in one of
your sources, decide if you should paraphrase it.
Paraphrasing:
Put the information into your own words
Make it about the same length as the original
Dont change the meaning
Summarizing
What does the word summarize mean?
When you nd an important piece of information in one of
your sources, decide if you should summarize it.
Summarizing:
Put the information into your own words
Make it signicantly shorter than the original
Dont change the meaning
Quoting
What does the word quote mean?
When you nd an important piece of information in one of
your sources, decide if you should quote it.
Quoting:
Use it when there is inspiring and meaningful wording
Use it with statistics not considered common
knowledge
Use it when something is said by an important expert
you want to recognize
Quoting cont...
Put the exact wording from the source inside quotation
marks ( )
Example: The scholar stated, Crocodiles are often
aggressive and rather mean. They enjoy eating raw
meat and have massive jaws.
Use... (ellipses) to show when you have left out part of
the original work
Example: The scholar stated, Crocodiles are often
aggressive...and have massive jaws.