HIST 01. MODULE ONE.

Lesson 1.2. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Two Types of History Sources

By now, you must have grasped the whole point of history being an interpretation, an argument, and an
instrument. Next, let's look at the materials used to put history together: we call them primary and secondary
sources.

Watch this OSLIS Elementary video entitled "Using Primary & Secondary Sources" to learn how to distinguish
between these two types of sources. Even if you're confident that you already know the difference between the
two, the video should serve as a refresher for points you might have forgotten.

Using Primary & Secondary Sources

[MUSIC PLAYING] Do you have an assignment that calls for using primary or secondary sources?
Do you need some help figuring out which is which? This tutorial will help you understand the
difference between primary and secondary sources. You'll learn about their traits, see some
examples of each, and learn when to use each of them.

Primary sources are firsthand accounts, such as letters, diaries, speeches, or interviews. They are
original documents created by people who directly witnessed what they're describing, people
who were there. Let's look at some primary source examples.

For social studies, you may find a newspaper article written during the Revolutionary War, a
transcript of a speech given by George Washington, excerpts from the journals of Lewis and
Clark, or newsreel video footage of World War II. For art, you may find a willow basket by an
Apache Indian artist, Mary Cassatt's painting, Little Girl In Blue Armchair, or Wassily Kandinsky's
painting, Circles In a Circle. As for science, you may find statistics about the decline in the
population of bees or a drawing from the Wright brothers' patent for their flying machine.

So when should you use primary sources? Use primary sources when you want to get a sense of
what it was like to experience something in person. For example, you may want to read an
eyewitness account, view photographs, or watch a video. You may want to interpret data for
yourself or personally reflect on works of art and literature.

In contrast, secondary sources interpret or analyze primary sources. They are not created by
those who have directly witnessed what they are describing. Instead, the authors of secondary
sources are often experts in their field who build upon information from primary sources by
summarizing, discussing, commenting on, evaluating, reviewing, drawing conclusions, and so on.
Let's look at some secondary source examples.

For social studies, you may find a book discussing the Revolutionary War from both the American
and the British perspectives, an article analyzing President George Washington's speaking style,
a biography about York's contribution to the Lewis and Clark expedition, or a documentary
recounting one of the final events of World War II. As for art, you may find an article about Native
American basket weaving techniques, a book about Mary Cassatt's life and paintings, or a lecture
given about Kandinsky's painting style. And for science, you may find a newspaper article about
how to help the declining bee population or a book about how the Wright brothers invented the
airplane.

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Lesson 1.2. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

So when should you use secondary sources? A common use is for gathering information about a
subject, helping you build background knowledge. Use secondary sources when you want to see
what others who have studied or investigated a topic or event have learned about it. Or you may
want to read an expert's analysis of an issue or interpretation of a work of art or literature.

OK. Now it's your turn to try. For a topic about themes in Mo Willems' books, which of these two
examples is a primary source, and which is a secondary source? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary
source is the book, Waiting Is Not Easy!, written by Mo Willems. This book is where you can
discover one of Mo Willems themes for yourself. The secondary source is the biography about
Mo Willems, which may explain how his childhood influenced the themes in his books.

Which of these two is a primary source for a paper about Oregon salmon populations? Which is a
secondary source? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary source is the raw data collected by the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife showing Oregon salmon counts. It's important to remember that
in order for data to count as a primary source, it must be unanalyzed and in numeric form only.
The example of a secondary source is the article that discusses the work being done to increase
the number and diversity of salmon.

Now try this last example. Which is a primary source, and which is a secondary source for a paper
about life for children on the Oregon Trail? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary source is the covered
wagon that you can see in person at a local history museum. The secondary source is a web site
describing what it was like to travel by wagon on the Oregon Trail. Good thinking.

Now you should better understand the difference between primary and secondary sources. For
specific examples and for more information about this topic and the entire research process,
explore OSLIS. Thank you to the Oregon CLIP Project for allowing the OSLIS Committee to
adapt their tutorials. OSLIS -- Learn to Research. Research to Learn.

Did the previous video make sense? As we go along the Hist 01 course, we will encounter a number of primary
sources and secondary sources, so it's important that you know the difference between the two.

Sometimes, however, sources can be relative, depending on the topic. What is a secondary source for one
topic can become a primary source for another topic. It mostly depends on the perspective you will use.

Watch this Hartness Library video entitled "Primary vs. Secondary Sources" to learn more about the relative use
of history sources. [closed captions available]

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Chances are that you're familiar with a variety of primary and secondary sources and use them in
everyday life. However, locating primary sources about an academic topic can sometimes be
difficult. Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event and are created during the time that
event took place. They can also be created retrospectively at a later date by a participant in
those events. They are original documents and usually don't describe or analyze other
documents. They can also be creative works

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Lesson 1.2. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Some examples of primary sources are speeches, laws and court documents, diaries, memoirs,
autobiographies, and letters; works of art, novels, and plays; documented observations,
interviews, original research and data, and historical newspapers.

So how can primary sources be used for research? They can be used as a focal point of a
discussion about events. They can be used to back up claims or criticisms. They can be used as
evidence for series and research, and they can be used to gain historical perspectives on the
topic.

Secondary sources are written by scholars or observers after the fact and interpret or analyze
primary sources or events. These sources are at least one step removed from what they are
describing. Some examples of secondary sources are textbooks, encyclopedias, essays, and
reviews; magazine or journal articles which analyze events or ideas; and books which provide a
summary of events or synthesize information for many primary sources.

So how are secondary sources used? They can be used to get background information and
understand the scope of a topic. They can be used to see what others have discussed or get
opinions. You can use them to learn how recent events affect or fit into the larger picture, and
they can help you understand the significance of events, data, works of literature, and art.

Let's look at an example. A primary source for a paper about the placebo effect could be data
from a medical trial which is published in an academic journal. Secondary sources for this topic
could include books about medication, the placebo effect, and health in general; or websites
which define various anxiety disorders.

One thing to keep in mind is that a source’s classification as either primary or secondary can
change depending on the topic that you're studying. For example, if you are writing about how
the news is being represented on the Internet, a new site like CNN might be considered a
primary source. If you're studying news on the Internet, cnn.com represents the object that
you're studying. However, if you're writing about political elections and you find an article on
cnn.com that analyzes them, the article will be considered a secondary source. Since in this case
you're studying the elections, an article on cnn.com is one step removed from your topic.

For an effective research paper, try to use both primary sources, sources that are an original
source of data, historical information, or creative works; as well as secondary sources, sources
which summarize analyze or comment on ideas or events.

Between the two types, primary sources are more central to our Hist 01 subject. Many debates have sparked
over some events in Philippine history, but oftentimes, these debates are caused by differing interpretations of
one primary source.

Some ongoing controversies in Philippine history

• The site of the first Catholic mass in the Philippines — was it Limasawa or Masao?
• The 1872 mutiny in Cavite — what really happened there?
• The site of the tearing of the cedula — was it Pugad Lawin or Balintawak?
• The retraction of José Rizal — did it really happen or not?

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Lesson 1.2. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Thus, if we want to know for ourselves what happened, it might be better to put less focus on what historians
say through secondary sources, and more focus on what the primary sources themselves tell us. Of course, we
are not saying that secondary sources are entirely useless: as mentioned in the previous page, secondary
sources give us an idea of how primary sources fit together into one larger picture.

The definition of 'primary source'

Let's recap. According to the two videos you've watched, primary sources are defined as:
• First-hand accounts of an event, created during the time that event took place, or created by a
participant in that event but at a later date
• Original documents or works created by people who directly witnessed what they are describing

Types of primary sources

According to the Primary Sources at Yale website, primary sources come in all shapes and sizes. They are not
limited to documents and texts. For this class, we will be handling the following types of primary sources:

1. Archives and manuscripts

o Can usually be found in only one library or institution, though digital copies can now be
accessed from anywhere with Internet connection
o Archives — records about the operations of an institution or organization
o Manuscripts — papers of an individual or family; technically includes letters

2. Books and pamphlets

o Can be primary or secondary sources, depending on the topic they are used for

3. Data
o Made up of information organized for systematic analysis
o Often gathered through experiments and surveys

4. Ephemera
o Materials that typically have temporary or short-term use in everyday life, such as tickets,
receipts, labels
o Can also include papers that are meant to be saved, like certificates or paper money
o Can also be digital, like social media status updates

5. Government documents
o Direct evidences of a government's activities, functions, and policies
o Can be produced by regional and local governments, and by international governing bodies
like the United Nations or the ASEAN

6. Maps
o Visual and textual representations of a place, which vary according to the culture producing
them
o Can show insight about the people who produced them, and the time period in which they
were made

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Lesson 1.2. Primary vs. Secondary Sources

7. Objects and artifacts

o Three-dimensional evidences of how people lived
o Can either be man-made or naturally occurring
o Can be valued for their historical, artistic, or scientific importance

8. Oral histories
o Usually direct testimonies spoken by persons, about events from earlier in their lives, like
interviews
o May not necessarily be recorded, but can simply be passed down through word of mouth

9. Serials
o Publications that are released in ongoing installments, like magazines or newspapers
o Can be primary or secondary sources, depending on the topic they are used for

10. Sound recordings

o Direct testimonies of the past, preserved through audio records, like music, speeches, radio
broadcasts, sound bites
o Conveys not only content, but also tone

11. Visual materials

o Uses images to convey meaning, sometimes accompanied by words and sounds