Primary Sources - Primary sources are original materials that were created firsthand; they have not been run through the filter of interpretation.
- Original materials that provide direct evidence or first-hand testimony of a participant or eyewitness of an event or topic.
- Primary sources can be contemporary sources created at the time when the event occurred (e.g., letters and newspaper articles) or later (such as memoirs and oral history interviews).
- Primary sources may be published or unpublished. Unpublished sources are unique materials (e.g., family papers) often referred to as archives and manuscripts.
- What constitutes a primary source varies by discipline. How the researcher uses the source generally determines whether it is a primary source or not.
Examples of primary sources include:
- pamphlets
- photographs
- research data
- speeches and other documents of the time
- journals
- letters
- manuscripts
- moving pictures or video recordings
- objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons
- audio recordings
- contemporaneous newspaper articles
- diaries
- government documents
- interviews
