Answered By: Daniel Dylla
Last Updated: Sep 11, 2023     Views: 492

A primary source is an original document "created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched." Interviews, reports, speeches, tweets, blogs, or diary entries are good examples of primary sources.

A secondary source analyzes and interprets information presented elsewhere. Most books in our library are secondary sources. Those books might contain references to primary sources inside them. Check the links below for more examples and help with primary sources.

You may also consider a site like the Digital Public Library of America to look for primary sources. Be careful -- primary sources are sometimes difficult to understand without context. That context is usually provided by secondary sources.

 

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