Primary Sources

Primary sources:

• are "fundamental, authoritative documents relating to a subject, ...e.g., original records, contemporary documents, etc."*
• first-hand accounts by a direct participant or witness
• are generally uninterpreted with analysis and context provided in secondary source books and journal articles
• may include letters, diaries, interviews, photographs, films, maps, government documents, field notes, and more

For the arts, history, and humanities, original primary source documents usually are housed in museums, archives, restricted library collections, and government offices. Reproductions often can be found in online digital collections, microform collections, books, and other secondary works.

For the natural and social sciences, primary sources include the original account of a research study, typically published as an article in a scholarly journal. Find a fuller explanation in the SUNY Albany and Willamette University resources below.

*Young, Heartsill, ed. The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983, p.176