Comparing Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary source documents are all of the following EXCEPT -- 

• First hand accounts of someone's experience
• Analysis of events
• An original document that does not analyze other documents
• Original research

Secondary source documents are all of the following EXCEPT:

• An analysis of primary sources or events
• Interpretations of original documents
• Sources created later by someone who did not participate in the event
• Original materials

Which of these is NOT an example of a primary source?

• Original uniforms worn at a time in history
• Diaries written at the time of an event
• Film footage of a historical event
• A poem about World War II from your classmate

Which of these is NOT an example of a secondary source?

• Newspaper articles
• Diary entry
• Encyclopedia
• Textbook

What  type of source is this? A diary titled “Life in the Mines” from a miner named Lucky Noah who lived in Idaho in the 1870’s.

• Primary
• Secondary

What type of source is this? A magazine article from 2011 titled “Mining in the Old West in the 1860’s-1890’s” 

• Primary
• Secondary

What type of source is this? A chapter in your world history textbook about the Ancient Greeks

• Primary
• Secondary

What type of source is this? An original photograph from the 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor that you found in your grandparents photo album

• Primary
• Secondary

What type of source is this? An original World War I uniform worn by your great grandfather

• Primary
• Secondary

What type of source is this? An encyclopedia entry on the Vietnam War

• Primary
• Secondary