Primary Sources : Home
What are Primary and Secondary Sources?
Primary sources are:
- first hand accounts of an event
- materials created by participants or witnesses of the event(s) under study
- original records created at the time the historical events occurred
- raw data for the historian
Secondary sources are:
- works that discuss a subject, but which are written after the time that the event(s) occurred - [by someone other than an eyewitness]
- works that contain explanations/judgements/ discussions of past events
- works that explain or interpret primary sources
Reading Old Handwriting
Primary Documents can contain older handwriting that can be challenging to read. Use these following guides to help you:
Paleeography: Reading Old Handwriting from the National Archives
Useful Tips for Reading Handwritten Documents from State Records in New South Wales, Australia
Palaeography Help: from Leah Grandy at UNB
For a tutorial on basic cursive handwriting, see the following YouTube video.
What Are Some Examples of Primary Sources?
Official Records Cabinet Papers |
Published Sources Newspapers |
Private Sources Letters |
How Do I Find Primary Sources in OneSearch?
Use keywords that describe your topic together with any/some of the following words:
Autobiography/Autobiographies Biography Correspondence Diary/Diaries Interview/Interviews Journal |
Letter/Letters Personal narratives Public opinion Sources Speech/Speeches |
Example: cold war and (letter* or narrative* or correspondence)
and click on Search Everything
(* (asterisk) is the wildcard/truncation symbol in OneSearch, and would retrieve "letter" or "letters", etc.)
- Look at the publication dates of the book and the birth/death dates of the author:
-
- The date of the original publication may give you an indication that you have a primary source. Look for the publication date or a note about the original publication.
If the birth and death dates of the author are such that he/she lived during the time of your event you may have a primary source.
- The date of the original publication may give you an indication that you have a primary source. Look for the publication date or a note about the original publication.
- Look at notes in the record:
-
- There may be notes in the record which describe the material and give clues as to whether or not it is a primary source. For instance, if there is a note indicating that the work is a facsimile or a reprint, then you may have a primary source
Archives on Campus
- Digital Archives Initiative - MUN library This link opens in a new windowThis searchable site has primary sources including newspaper articles, images, diaries and video images.