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Primary sources are first hand accounts of something that has happened. For example, if you witnessed a train wreck and gave a report to the police your report would be a primary source. Now the story that would be run in the newspaper the next day would be a secondary source. A primary source allows a person doing research to get as close as possible to the research material. Having primary sources is as close as we can get to actually being there. Primary sources are created during an event taking place or later in time by someone that was actually at that place in time. Primary sources are sources as first described, with no interpretation or commentary by another researcher. Some examples of primary sources include a book I have in my personal collection, written by Barry Clifford. The book is titled, Return to Treasure Island: And the Search for Captain Kidd. This book is about the underwater recovery of Captain Kidd's pirate ship. Barry Clifford was the head of this dive and was diving with other researchers and wrote about his findings under the sea. Another example is a book I have on Readings in Medieval History; this book has many essays and short stories written throughout the middle ages by the people that were there. A few examples in this book include On Christian Doctrine, by Augustine of Hippo or Germania by Tacitus. Both of these writings were written by people that lived during that time. Other primary sources include diaries, like The Diary of Anne Frank. She was there and saw first hand the atrocities that took place. Interviews are also primary sources. In an interview you actually have the person giving there account of something that happened on tape. Letters and documents can be primary sources. Think of all the government documents from the beginning of the United States. All of those documents would be primary sources because they were written by people during that time. Photographs, works of literature and original works of art can also be primary sources. A painting by Rembrandt is a good example. A painting that I did of a Rembrandt is not a primary source.

Secondary sources offer commentary or discussion about a primary source. Secondary sources are written by people who were not on the scene. Some examples of different secondary sources include biographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias and books that are written that analyze primary sources. A biography is a secondary source, because it was written about someone else. Dictionaries

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