A primary source provides direct, firsthand knowledge or evidence about a person, event, or object. The following list includes primary sources commonly found within an archive.
Newspaper articles, advertisements, booklets, or magazines created during the time of an event can be considered a primary source. The creator or reporter would be considered an eyewitness, rather than compiling the story from a witness after the event.
A secondary source is not based on direct, firsthand knowledge or evidence about a person, event, or object. Secondary sources rely on other sources of information and interprets, evaluates, and summarizes primary sources. Secondary sources are written after or in hindsight of the original event. The following list includes secondary sources commonly found within an archive.
Articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals are often created after the time of the event and are considered secondary sources.