This document defines primary and secondary sources and provides guidance on evaluating their legitimacy and authority. It explains that primary sources are original materials created at the time of an event, while secondary sources analyze or interpret primary sources. The document recommends asking who created the source, its purpose, where the information comes from, and provides examples of both primary and secondary sources. It also lists some library databases and websites that can be used to find primary and secondary sources.

1. Evaluating sources
 There are several questions you should
ask yourself when evaluating the U. Grant Miller
legitimacy and authority of a source. Library
 Who is responsible for the source?
 Government, library, and museum
websites tend to have accurate
information.
 What are the author’s
credentials? What qualifies him or
Help Guide
her to write about this subject?
 What is the purpose of the source?
 Websites can be created for any
number of reasons. Try to find an
Primary and
“About” page to help determine
the reliability of the site. Secondary
Sources
 Where does the information come from?
 Look for citations to see where
the author found the information.
 Is the document scanned or
transcribed? A scanned image is
usually of the original document. Your professor hands you
With a transcribed document, it’s a writing assignment and
important to find the original to one of the requirements is
make sure the transcription is
complete and accurate. to use both primary and
secondary sources. What
does that even mean?
This guide defines
primary and secondary
sources.
Citing Primary Sources
 Citations can be difficult, especially
Washington & Jefferson College
when it comes to primary sources.
60 S. Lincoln St. Washington, PA 15301
 Use the following website to learn how
Phone: 724-223-6070 User Services
to cite primary sources in MLA and
Phone: 724-223-6072 Research Services
Chicago citation styles:
Fax: 724-223-5272
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimar
www.washjeff.edu/library
ysources/citing.html Washington & Jefferson College

2. What is a primary source? Finding Sources: Databases
 A primary source is an original document  W&J’s library has many databases
created at the time an event occurred. available for students to access both
 Primary sources can include letters, primary and secondary sources.
newspapers, journals, diaries, speeches,  For primary sources, try:
interviews, photographs, video footage, Examples  CAMIO
works of art, eyewitness accounts, and  LexisNexis Academic
more.  MEDLINE
Primary Source Secondary Source  ScienceDirect
 For secondary sources, try:
 Academic Search Elite
What is a secondary source?  Art Index—Book Reviews
The Diary of Anne “The Utopian Space of  Book Review Digest Plus
 A secondary source is written about a pri- Frank a Nightmare: The  Britannica.com
mary source. Diary of Anne Frank,”  Contemporary Authors Database
 Secondary sources analyze, interpret, or by Barbara Chiarello  Humanities International Complete
comment on primary sources. in Utopian Studies,  JSTOR
 Secondary sources are removed one or 1994, 5.1, p. 128-140.  Points of View Reference Center
more steps from the actual event.  Project Muse
Patient Protection and Editorial on  Some of our EBSCO database have
 Secondary sources can include textbooks,
Affordable Care Act of nytimes.com “A primary source documents. Choose
biographies, encyclopedias, criticisms,
2010 Moment of Truth for “primary source document” under
reviews, and more.
Health Care Reform” Publication Type if available when
by Lincoln Caplan and searching.
Philip M. Boffey,
March 24, 2012.
Understanding primary and secondary The Hunger Games Review of The Hunger Finding Sources: Websites
sources by Suzanne Collins Games in Kirkus
Reviews, 2008, 76.17,  For primary sources, try:
 Need more help understanding the p. 941.  Library of Congress’s Digital
difference between primary and secondary
The Gettysburg “Rereading the Collections
sources and how to use them? Check out
Address by Abraham Gettysburg Address: http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-
the following websites:
Lincoln Social Change and digital.html
 Using Primary Sources on the Web
Collective Memory,”  Smithsonian Institution
http://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/u
by Barry Schwartz in http://www.si.edu/Collections
singprimarysources
Qualitative Sociology,  C-SPAN Video Library
 Primary vs. Secondary Sources
1996, 19.3, p. 395- http://www.c-
http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/p
422. spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/
rimary2.html
 FDsys http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
 Try Googling “primary and secondary
 For secondary sources, try:
sources” to find more library websites that
 Editorials/opinions on newspaper
define and explain these two kinds of
websites like nytimes.com
sources.
 Popular magazine websites like
Time