A: There
are two types of sources used in HISTORICAL research.
II. SECONDARY SOURCES
Examples of SECONDARY SOURCES:
FINDING SOURCES
I. PRIMARY SOURCES
A primary source is a document or other sort of evidence written
or created during the time under study. Primary sources offer an
inside view of a particular event. Some types are:
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable) Diaries,
speeches, letters, minutes, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies,
official records
Examples of PRIMARY SOURCES:
CREATIVE WORKS Poetry, drama, novels, music, art
RELICS or ARTIFACTS Jewelry, pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings
* Diary of Anne Frank - experiences of Jews in World War II
* The Declaration of Independence - U.S. history
* Bible - Hebrew customs in Bible times
* arrowheads and pottery - American Indian history
* Plato’s Republic - women in ancient Greece
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. Secondary
sources are one step removed from the event.
* a book about the effects of World War I,
* a journal article which interprets a scholar’s contribution in a
field.
* or other sources such as textbooks, journal articles, histories,
criticism, commentaries, and encyclopedias.
Access tools lead to primary or secondary sources. For example,
Voyager, the online catalog, will find works by Aristotle (Primary Source)
or works about him (Secondary Source). Go into the local catalog of voyager
and do a keyword search:
(a) Aristotle AND (sources OR documents)
(b) Another way to do a keyword search to catch some additional Primary
Sources is to do: Aristotle AND (source? OR documents)