Primary and Secondary Sources

Why do your teachers sometimes ask for both kinds of sources?

It is good to use both primary and secondary sources in your research so that you have the benefit of original information that has not been distorted in any way and you also gain ideas and understanding by examining multiple perspectives on an issue when you use secondary sources.

How do you tell if a resource is primary or secondary?

Primary Sources are original records without interpretation such as:

Documents, photographs, video footage, art, music, poetry, diaries, interviews, stories, letters, postcards, artifacts, e-mail, raw statistics,

Secondary Sources represent a restatement or interpretation of primary information such as:

Encyclopedia, newspaper, books, magazines, documentary, Website,

Note: It is the content and not the media type that determines if a source is primary or secondary. Sometimes information can be both primary and secondary e.g. an old magazine, a Web site containing scanned original documents or photographs

How do you find primary sources?

• check locations and websites that specialize in primary source material such as archives, museums, government and law offices, media organizations. e.g. search for "Idle no More" at www.CBC.ca for recorded interviews, photographs, press conferences. 

• some (not many) databases have a specific search feature to limit your search to primary sources. e.g. search for "Kyoto Protocol" in Canadian Student Research Centre for our Northview Heights virtual library and limit search to Primary Source Documents.

• when you search for your topic try adding a primary source type  e.g. "Alberta Tar Sands" and "maps"

Helpful websites: 

Collections Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html