Carolyn Clark
cclark@bakeru.edu
(785) 594-4543
“A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person or work of art. Characteristically, primary sources are contemporary to the events and people described and show minimal or no mediation between the document/artifact and its creator. As to the format, primary source materials can be written and non-written…” Source: http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1002226
Here a few examples of primary sources:
Texts of laws, regulations, and court opinions.
News reports by reporters who witnessed an event or interview & quote witnesses
Speeches, diaries, and letters
Articles or reports of original research
Photographs, paintings, videos, or audio recording that capture an event.
“A secondary source, in contrast, lacks the immediacy of a primary record. As materials produced sometime after an event happened, they contain information that has been interpreted, commented, analyzed or processed in such a way that it no longer conveys the freshness of the original.”
“Secondary sources are often based on primary sources.”
Source: http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1002226