Primary Sources

Definition:

Primary Sources:

• Sources from the time period

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

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. Some types of secondary sources include: PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias

Keywords to Find Them:

• Search by keyword for Primary Sources in the Main Catalog
  You can search the Main Catalog to find direct references to primary source material. Perform a keyword search for your topic and add one of the words below:
  (these are several examples of words that would identify a source as primary) charters

• correspondence

• diaries

• early works

• interviews

• manuscripts

• oratory

• pamphlets

• personal narratives

• sources

• speeches

• letters

• Documents

• http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html

Places to find them:

• Free web- use “+ primary source,” “+document,” “+speech” etc

• Subscription Databases- several options- see UNM. If projects need student searching

• Library of Congress- historic Newspapers

• National Archives- US documents

• UNM eContent Library and Atlas of Historic NM

• Internet Modern History Sourcebook (Fordham)

Cool links for primary sources:

• Library of Congress

• National Archives

• Atlas of Historic New Mexico Maps

• Internet Modern History Sourcebook

• Primary Sources at Yale