Primary Sources

Research

Primary Sources  Published

at the time of the event  Author has firsthand knowledge  Author is an authority

Examples of Primary Sources  Journals  Books

written in the time period you’re researching  Newspaper articles from the time period  Speeches  Government documents

Primary Sources A

primary source has to be the original document. Electronic sources are not primary sources (unless they are subjected to a peer review).

Secondary Sources  Written

after the event  Author doesn’t have to have firsthand knowledge or be an authority

Examples of Secondary Sources  Popular

books  Reference books  Textbooks  Recent magazine or newspaper articles

Quiz Time! Primary or Secondary?  Hitler’s

autobiography  An article in last week’s Time about Nazi Germany  The Diary of Anne Frank  A journal written by a prisoner in Auschwitz  Your history textbook  A nonfiction book about the Holocaust written two years ago

Internet Credibility  Be

very careful about internet research. Anyone can make a website, which means they can write whatever they want.

3 Questions  Who

wrote the information?  What was the author’s intent?  Who is sponsoring the website? (Websites that end in .edu or .gov are generally considered to be credible sources.)

Which is Credible?  http://www.ci.mankato.mn.us/  http://city-mankato.us/

 http://www.whitehouse.net/  http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Media Bias  Remember

that everyone has a different opinion about a topic, and even the most credible sources will sometimes skew information to reflect that opinion.  It’s important to look at many sources to get the most accurate information possible when doing research.

OJ Simpson’s Mugshot

Trotsky and Stalin

President Obama

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