Primary sources are original, unaltered documents like diaries, speeches, artifacts, or creative works. Secondary sources analyze and interpret primary sources, such as textbooks, articles, or commentaries. Secondary sources would not exist without primary sources, as secondary sources use primary sources to study, analyze, and create new knowledge.

1. Primary Resources
Secondary Resources
What’s the difference?
By Brittney Matthews

2. Have you ever had a professor ask
you for primary resources or
secondary resources? If you were a
bit confused by this, like I once was,
this PowerPoint presentation should
help clear things up a bit.

3. First: Primary Sources
A primary source document is a
document that has not been changed or
altered in any way. It is an original.
Some examples are: diaries, speeches,
manuscripts, creative works, relicts or
artifacts.

4. Here are a few image
examples:

5. Second: Secondary Sources
A secondary sources would be, for example, an
article a teacher may ask you to read. The
article will have references to primary source
documents. That is what secondary source
document is: a document that analyzes or
interprets primary source documents.
Some examples would be: text books, articles,
commentaries, and critiques.

6. Some image examples:

7. So there you have it. We could not
have secondary sources if it weren’t
for primary sources. We use primary
sources to analyze and study and
create new documents called
secondary sources.