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Library Resources for Susan Dawson's W131: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary...Oh My!

Designed to help you navigate library resources and evaluate information to make you savvy information consumers. Oh, and to help you with your assignments. Of course.

More Info about Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred, or well after events occurred.  Primary sources may include:

  • letters
  • manuscripts
  • diaries
  • journals
  • oral histories
  • newspapers
  • speeches
  • interviews
  • memoirs
  • government documents
  • photographs
  • audio recordings
  • video recordings

 

These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past.  When they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.