Library & Research Overview: Primary Sources

Primary sources are the raw materials of research.

The types of materials can include:

• items such as manuscripts, documents, diaries, letters
• audio and visual media such as photographs, sketches, recordings of interviews
• physical objects (artifacts of material culture) such as tools, utensils, pots, clothes, quilts

The other categories of sources:

Secondary Sources are the original published writings that analyze and interpret primary sources, typically, books and articles in magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, and professional and trade journals.

Tertiary Sources are publications that summarize or, in other ways, present the information found in secondary sources. These include textbooks, encyclopedias and other reference resources.

Any item can be a primary source, if it is the object being studied; it depends on your perspective, that is how you see it and use it in the context of a research study.
A secondary or tertiary source may be used as a primary source; for example, if you are doing research on how newspaper articles are written, then a newspaper article is your primary source.

Many primary sources are reproduced and reprinted in books that are available in libraries and many are digitized and available online.