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ENG 1A (Turner) - Topics in Social Justice: Primary Sources

Where to Find Primary Sources

  • Books and reference books (check the table of contents) often contain primary sources such as photographs, oral histories, speeches, graphs.
  • Documentaries are also considered primary sources. The Library's streaming databases, Films on Demand and Kanopy, contain transcripts of each documentary. 
  • Websites contain information that may be considered primary sources:

Primary Sources on the Web: Finding, Evaluating, Using

If you are not sure whether your source is a primary source, ask your instructor or a librarian.

 

Primary Sources

A primary source is a document that was written or an artifact that was created during the time period under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.

Examples of primary sources: 

  • social media posts (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram)
  • interviews
  • documentary films
  • music and songs
  • photographs
  • letters
  • artifacts (e.g., coins, items of clothing, tools, furniture, pottery)
  • diaries, journals
  • works of art (e.g.,paintings,sculptures, quilts)
  • creative works (e.g., poetry, drama, novels, music)
  • autobiographies, memoirs
  • cartoons
  • census records
  • broadsides
  • court or government records
  • immigration records
  • drawings
  • maps from the place or time
  • ship logs
  • ledger books
  • labor records
  • recorded oral histories 
  • texts or recordings of speeches/addresses
  • architectural landmarks
  • charts and graphs
  • sound recordings
  • news film footage
  • official records

Secondary Sources

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes, or graphics of primary sources in them. 

Examples of Secondary Sources:

  • bibliographies (also considered tertiary)
  • biographical works
  • commentaries, criticisms
  • dictionaries, encyclopedias (also considered tertiary)
  • histories
  • journal articles (may be primary depending on the discipline)
  • magazine and newspaper articles (this distinction varies by discipline)
  • monographs, other than fiction and autobiography
  • textbooks (also considered tertiary)
  • websites (also considered primary)