An account or record (such as a first-hand account, a contemporaneous news report, a photograph, or an audio or video recording) reflecting direct experience of a thing (such as a historical event) that is being researched or studied.
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “primary source,” https://www.merriawebster.com/dictionary/primary%20source.
An article, report, etc. that is based on firsthand accounts or records of a thing being researched or studied but that is not itself a firsthand account.
“Secondary source.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secondary%20source.
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Primary Sources |
Secondary Sources |
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diaries, letters, memoirs |
journal articles that comment on or analyze research |
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original documents e.g. birth certificates, trial transcripts, pictures, video of an event, audio recordings |
textbooks |
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autobiographies, manuscripts |
dictionaries and encyclopedias |
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interviews, speeches, oral histories |
books that interpret, analyze |
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case law, legislation, regulations, constitutions |
political commentary |
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government documents, statistical data, research reports |
biographies |
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A journal article reporting new research or findings |
Dissertations, conference proceedings |
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creative art works, literature, objects or artifacts |
newspaper editorial/opinion pieces, TV documentaries |
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newspaper advertisements and reportages and editorial/opinion pieces |
criticism of literature, art works or music |
Borrowed from Dr. Christian Knudsen, medieval historian and Professor of Cultural History in Sheridan’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Mediaeval Historian YouTube channel posts videos on history and lectures from the courses Dr Knudsen teach.