Primary and Secondary Sources - History 111 - South Bend-Elkhart - Ivy Tech Libraries at Ivy Tech Community College

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Primary and Secondary Sources in History

Website Evaluation Guide

WEBSITE EVALUATION GUIDE

Website Evaluation Guide

Primary Sources

What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.

Some types of primary sources include:

Original Documents(excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, newspaper articles reporting the event at the time, autobiographies, official records
Creative Works: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art
Relics or Artifacts: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

Examples of primary sources include:
Magna Carta
Films of Leni Riefenstahl
A journal article reporting NEW research or findings
Letters of Heloise and Abelard
Newspaper articles published at the time
Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl

Secondary Sources

What is a Secondary Source?
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them.

Some types of secondary sources include:
Textbooks, magazine and journal articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries

King John and the Road to the Magna Carta by Stephen Church
ISBN: 9780465040704
Publication Date: 2015-04-07
King John has long been dubbed one of the "vilest” of English kings. He was brutish, untrustworthy, and ruled as a virtual tyrant--and yet his reign changed the course of English history. As renowned medieval historian Stephen Church argues, John’s importance has for too long been overshadowed by more heroic family members like Richard the Lionhearted and Eleanor of Aquitaine. John was a skilled political manipulator, but his traditional belief in the unchecked power of the sovereign became increasingly unpopular during his reign, leading to frequent confrontations between the king and his barons. In 1215, a group of barons rebelled in response to John’s repressive fiscal policies. The peace treaty that resulted was the Magna Carta, which enshrined the king’s obligation to rule within the framework of the law. King John offers an authoritative portrait of King John and the moment that signaled the end of the age of absolute monarchy and the dawn of constitutional law.

Examples of secondary sources include:
A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings
A history textbook
A book about the economic aspects of the Silk Road