Primary sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Types of records included as primary sources are:
- Texts of laws and related original documents
- Newspaper reports: by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote direct witnesses
- Original research
- Letters, speeches, diaries, and interviews
- Datasets and survey data such as a census or economic statistics
- Photographs, audio, or video
- Memoirs / Autobiographies
Secondary Sources are a step removed from primary sources, and they often quote and use primary sources. Secondary sources include:
- Most books about a topic
- Interpretation or analysis of data
- Articles about a topic that aren't written by people directly involved
- Biographies
- Documentaries (these often include primary sources but are not primary sources themselves)
- Educational Textbooks
- Literary criticism
- Thesis papers / Dissertations
