ESCC Learning Resource Center: Primary & Secondary Sources: Primary & Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Provides first-hand account
Gives evidence about people, events, or phenomena
Was created at the time or shortly after
Adds credibility

Person giving another person a microphone

Combines information
Analyzes or gives commentary
Quotes other sources
Gives context

person reading a book with other books on the ground

Below are some examples of books in the ESCC library and an explanation of why they are primary or secondary sources.

Book	Description
	Primary Source: This is Maya Angelou's own words about her life, so she is a primary source. She knows better than anyone else what she has experienced.
	Secondary Source: This is someone else's biography of Maya Angelou. Because that person did not experience Maya Angelou's life directly but instead relied on information from other people, this is a secondary source.
	Secondary Source: This book analyzes Maya Angelou's poetry. Her actual poems would most likely be the primary source while the analysis is about the the poems and thus the secondary source.
	Primary Sources: These treaties and government documents are the actual agreements and laws. They are not someone else's opinion or description of what happened. They are the actual writings used at that time.
	Primary Source: This is one person's description of her trip. She is the best person to tell what happened since she experienced it herself.
	Secondary Source: This author writes in the 20th century about what happened in the 17th century. Therefore, it is not a firsthand account of the Native American kingdom --even though it is closer to the source than someone writing in the 21st century.

journal, newspaper, audiobiography, painting, textbook, movie review, data, encyclopedia, email, interview

Shift over the following to reveal the answers.

Answers:

PRIMARY: - journal, autobiography, painting, data, email interview;

SECONDARY - newspaper, textbook, movie review, encyclopedia

Warning: Remember that these are not always predictable. For example, usually a movie review is a secondary source if you are writing about a movie. But if your essay is analyzing movie reviews, then the movie review would be a primary source.