Primary sources provide firsthand accounts or direct evidence to the event, person, object or place. These sources are created by participants or witnesses of the event at the time it occurred or their experiences recorded later in the form of an autobiography, memoir or oral history.
Secondary sources, however, provide a more critical analysis of an event, person or object that often interpret primary sources and refer to secondary sources created by other authors to help formulate a less personal account.
The "Finding Books" tab will help you discover primary sources, i.e. firsthand accounts of people directly involved in or who had witnessed an event. Other primary sources can be found using the tabs for journal and newspaper articles, and statistical information. This page highlights digital collections or works that contain primary source materials. Examples of types of primary sources are listed on the right side of this page.
