Skip to Main Content

Searching Primary Sources & Archive Collections

An introduction to identifying and locating primary sources for historical research.

Primary Sources Defined

Primary sources are original materials that provide direct evidence or first-hand testimony concerning a topic or event -- first-hand records created by people who actually participated in or remembered an event and reported on the event and their reactions to it. They are the evidence historians use to build interpretations of the past and bring us as close to the original event or thought as possible without being filtered, influenced or analyzed through interpretation.  

  • Primary sources can be contemporary sources created at the time when the event occurred (e.g., letters and newspaper articles) or later (such as, memoirs and oral history interviews).
  • Primary sources may be published or unpublished. Unpublished sources include unique materials (e.g., family papers) often referred to as archives and manuscripts.
  • What constitutes a primary source varies by discipline. How the researcher uses the source generally determines whether it is a primary source or not.  See the examples below.

Among the many types of materials that may be primary sources are: diaries, speeches, autobiographies, oral histories, government and organizational records, statistical data, maps, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, artworks, advertisements, and artifacts.

Example... Primary Sources Secondary Sources
The Historian researching World War I might utlize: Newspaper articles, weekly/monthly news magazines, diaries, correspondence, and government records from 1914 to 1919. Articles in scholarly journals analyzing the war, possibly citing primary documents; books analyzing the war.
The Literary Critic researching literature written during World War I might utilize: Novels, poems, plays, diaries, and correspondence of the time period. Published articles in scholarly journals providing analysis and criticism of the literature; books analyzing the literature; formal biographies of writers from the era.
The Psychologist researching trench warfare and post-traumatic stress disorder in World War I veterans might utilize: Original research reports on the topic or research notes taken by a clinical psychologist working with World War I veterans. Articles in scholarly publications synthesizing results of original research; books analyzing results of original research.
The Scientist researching long-term medical effects of chemical warfare on exposed veterans might utilize: Published articles in scholarly journals reporting on a medical research study and its methodology. Published articles in scholarly journals analyzing results of an original research study; books doing the same.

Use this interactive video tutorial, developed by UCLA, to see if you can tell the difference between primary and secondary sources:  Wheel of Sources!

Primary Sources Within the Disciplines

Each field of study has its own world of sources.  The list that follows is not all-inclusive, but will halp you to identify primary sources in various disciplines.  In general, personal correspondence and diaries or journals are consider to be primary sources by all disciplines.  

  • Archaeology/Anthropology: an artifact or object that provides evidence of a society, such as clothing, farming tools, household items, and buildings.

  • Arts and Literature: the original artistic or literary work that forms the basis for a criticism or review, such as feature films, musical compositions, sound recordings, paintings, novels, plays, and poems.

  • Biology: research or lab notes, genetic evidence, plant specimens, technical reports, and other reports of original research or discoveries (e.g., conference papers and proceedings, dissertations, scholarly articles).

  • Business: market research or surveys, anything that documents a corporation's activities, such as annual reports, meeting minutes, legal documents, marketing materials, and financial records.

  • Communication: websites, blogs, broadcast recordings and transcripts, advertisements and commercials, public opinion polls, and magazines (e.g., Rolling Stone).

  • Engineering: design notes, patents, conference proceedings, technical reports, and field surveys.

  • Geography: field notes, census data, maps, satellite images, and aerial photographs.

  • History: government documents (e.g., treaty, birth certificate), photographs, store account books, artifacts (such as those listed for archaelogy/anthropology), maps, legal and financial documents, and census records.

  • Law: court decisions, trial trancripts, and law codes.

Chart showing additional examples including one on Cardi B. A primary source about her would be one of her songs or a music video. A secondary source might be a review of one of her albums by a music critic. A tertiary source might be an encyclopedia on American rap-musicians.