What are primary sources and how do I evaluate them?
While secondary sources give a second-hand account of an event (such as in historical articles and textbooks), primary sources are accounts by an eyewitness or the first recorder of an event. Primary sources can take many different forms including photographs, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, speeches, data obtained through original research, statistical compilations, or legal requirements (such as U.S. census records and public records), creative works (such as poetry, music, art), or artifacts (objects used or present at a certain event). When evaluating sources such as these, it is important to ask questions of the material. For example, it is important to realize that just because an author claims to compose an “eyewitness account” does not mean the account is “true.” Consider what opinions and values the author displays, think about what his or her motives might be for writing what they did, how he or she communicates the message, and compare and contrast that message with th
