ARTH 3282 - Pre-Columbian Art - COSTA: Primary Sources

Websites:

E-book:

Primary source documents are documents created by witnesses of events being documented. They offer an inside viewpoint. They can include:

• Primary sources include:
  • charters
  • texts of legislative bills
  • U.S. code
  • court decisions
  • correspondence
  • autobiographies
  • diaries
  • memoirs
  • journal articles that present original research
  • technical reports
  • early works
  • interviews
  • manuscripts
  • oratory
  • pamphlets
  • personal narratives
  • speeches
  • letters

Some examples include:

• Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII 
• The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History 
• A journal article reporting NEW research or findings

Source: Princeton University

Secondary sources interpret and analyze primary sources. They are written after an event has occurred, and provide analysis and secondhand accounts of events/topics because they are one or more steps removed from the event. The perspective, interpretation, and conclusion of a secondary source may be different from that of the primary source.

Secondary sources include:

• journal and magazine articles that interpret previous findings (such as literature reviews)
• encyclopedias
• textbooks
• books that interpret information (such as historical events or research conducted by others)