Primary vs. Secondary sources
You may be required to use primary sources for an assignment. This is common for history coursework but can occur for any subject. Secondary sources are also important to help inform your research, and are usually acceptable sources to cite. Learn about the differences between Primary and Secondary sources below. For places to find primary sources, see the Primary Sources tab in the History Subject Guides.
"[A] document or record containing first-hand information or original data on a topic..." 
- The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science
Primary sources are works created
- at the time of an event, or
- by a person who directly experienced an event.
It is the content, not necessarily the format, of a work that makes it a primary source. For example, an online copy of a newspaper from March 20, 1897, is still a primary source even though the article viewed on your computer was digitized more than a century after the article was first printed.
Primary sources can include
- Interviews, diaries, letters, journals, speeches, autobiographies, and witness statements
- Articles containing original research, data, or findings never before shared
- Original hand-written manuscripts
- Government documents and public records
- Art, photographs, films, maps, fiction, and music
- Newspaper and magazine clippings
- Artifacts, buildings, furniture, and clothing
For places to find primary sources, see the History Subject Guides.
- Che Guevara's diaries recorded during political conflicts in Bolivia
-
Bolivian diary of Ernesto Che Guevara
- A scientific article reporting on the growth rates of Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island.
-
Negrave, R. W. Prescott, C. E. & Barker, J. E. (2007). Growth and foliar nutrition of juvenile western hemlock and western red cedar plantations on low- and medium-productivity sites on northern Vancouver Island: response to fertilization and planting density. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 37(12), 2587-2599.
- Captain George Vancouver's hand-drawn map of Vancouver Island and the BC Coast (pdf) , which appeared in his book Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean.
- Video of the Prime Minister of Canada delivering an apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools system on June 11, 2008.
- The Globe and Mail newspaper's front page from May 8, 1945, with articles describing the end of war in Europe.
"Any published or unpublished work that is one step removed from the original source, usually describing, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, derived from, or based on primary source materials..."
- The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science
Secondary sources are works that
- are one step removed from the original event or experience
- provide criticism or interpretation of a primary source
Secondary sources can include
- Textbooks
- Review articles and critical analysis essays
- Biographies
- Historical films, music, and art
- Articles about people and events from the past
- Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, a 1997 biography about Che Guevara written by Jon Lee Anderson.
- Tree: A Life Story the 2004 reflective book about Douglas Fir trees by David Suzuki, Wayne Grady, and Robert Bateman.
- A scholarly article interpreting the symbolism of a kiss in Dante's body of literature.
-
Bentley, D. M. R. (2007). "La bocca mi bacio": The Love Kiss in the Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, 16(Spring), 31-44.
- A textbook for the UVic History class, HIST 131, titled Origins: Canadian History to Confederation published in 2004 and written by R. D. Francis, R. Jones, and D. B. Smith.
For more information contact:
Teaching and Learning Office