Social Studies Standard:
History Skills and Methods: 2. The use of primary and secondary sources of information includes an examination of the credibility of each source.
What is a primary source?
A primary source is something created during a historical event that can then be used to study that event or time period. It can be any type of a document, an account, an object, a photograph or a video. Primary resources are very useful to provide credible and authentic infomration about what it was really like during that event. It could be something as simple as a store receipt or as personal as a diary. While primary sources are usually more credible than secondary sources, one still needs to take into account the personal perspective or beliefs of the people being affected.
A secondary source is some type of doucment, account or object, etc. that was created after the event or by someone who heard about it second hand.While secondary sources are much more plentiful, they can often contain biased or misleading information since they are based on second-hand information. |
Links to Primary Resources
You can find primary sources about alomst any historical person or event. Search the internet or you local library. You will be amazed to see what primary sources your local library may have on your town, school or even family.
I have listed some of the best places to search below.
I have listed some of the best places to search below.