--Primary Sources are original materials. They are from the time period involved and have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation. It has not been translated by anyone else or published elsewhere. They provide an "I was there" perspective.
- Letters and other correspondence
- Diaries and journals
- Travel accounts
- Newspaper reports
- Photographs
- Artwork, statistical complications
- Legal documents
- Autobiographies
- Architectural drawings
- Interviews (both in print and media formats)
- Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Speeches
- Emails
- Patents
Many other sources exist. Remember what is considered a primary source may vary from discipline to discipline (ex. a painting in art, soil in environmental science or presidential letters in history).
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
- Weavings and pottery - Native American history
- Plato's Republic - Women in Ancient Greece
