Primary and Secondary Sources - My Site · Primary sources •A primary source is an original...
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Primary and Secondary Sources What are They?
Transcript of Primary and Secondary Sources - My Site · Primary sources •A primary source is an original...
Primary and Secondary Sources
What are They?
Big Idea Question
How Do We Know What We Know about the Past?
What is a source? • Historians/ Students/ Researchers/ learn what they know
from various (different) sources of information.
• The word source means the beginning or origin of something. A source of information is anything that provides news about an event or information about anything.
• There are two main types of information sources- Primary and Secondary.
Primary sources
• A primary source is an original object, artifact or document that contains first-hand information.
• Written or produced (made) in the time period an event happened.
• Primary sources allow the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during a historical event or time period.
Primary Source***Diaries and journals Anne Frank was a teenager during World War II. She kept a diary or journal describing the years before she died in a concentration camp. Her diary was later published. “Diary of Anne Frank”.
Primary Source
*** Autobiographies• An autobiography is when you write a
story or book about yourself.
• Nelson Mandela wrote his autobiography about events in his life in South Africa called “Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.”
• It is a primary source because he wrote about his first hand experiences.
Primary Source***Speeches are considered Primary Sources.
• For example: Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”, and all of the President’s Inauguration speeches are primary sources.
Primary Source
***Historical documents • Historical documents such as the Declaration of
Independence or the Constitution are primary documents.
• Examples include: Birth Certificates, Government
records, Deeds, Court documents, Military records, Tax records, Census records, and Art
Primary Source***Photographs and videos are primary sources
• Photos- Photographers during World War II took photographs of battles and/or events during the war. Those photographs are primary sources. Those were taken during actual events.
• Videos- The same holds true for videos or film created during an event. A film was made interviewing President Bush. That film would be considered a primary source.
Primary Source***Letters
• Letters are considered primary documents. • Soldiers during wars wrote to their families
about war events they experienced. Those letters are considered primary sources.
Write It:
Can you think of anything in your home or a relative’s
home that is a primary source?
(Example: Ms. Stockton was looking through a box that belonged to her grandfather who passed
away.
She found his wallet. Inside was a business card (he was an electrician) and a picture of his wife.
These items are original objects/ documents from long ago and are therefore primary sources.)
Primary Source***First-hand Published Materials
• First-hand accounts or stories published by the person themselves.
• 2008 Presidential candidate Senator John McCain talked about his “own” experiences as a Vietnam prisoner of war. It is a primary source because he was there, experienced the events and shared it first hand.
• The television stations found footage of Senator McCain at the time that he was released. Those videos are also considered primary sources because it was filmed when it occurred.
Primary Source***Sound Recordings and interviews
Sound Recordings and television interviews are considered primary resources. Radio Addresses During the Great Depression and World War II, television had not been invented yet. People would sit around the radio to listen to President Roosevelt’s war messages. Television Interviews During the 2008 election Barack Obama, had many interviews that were televised.
What is a Secondary Source?Remember….
A source of information anything that provides news about an event or information about anything.
• A secondary source is something written about an event.• Secondary sources are written "after the fact" - that is, at
a later date.• Usually the author of a secondary source will have
studied the primary sources of a historical period or event and will then interpret the "evidence" found in these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information.
Secondary Source
Think about it like this….
• If I tell you something that happened to me, I am the primary source.
• If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondary source.
• Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers, magazines, or books summarize someone else's original research or story.
Secondary SourceBiographies
• A biography is when you write about another person’s life.
• Walter Isaacson wrote a biography on the life of Steve Jobs. This is a secondary document. It was written about him after he died.
Secondary SourceOther Examples of Secondary Sources
• Almanacs (An almanac is a book published every year that contains important facts about that year such as calendars, holidays, times when the sun and moon rise, astronomical events, weather patterns, etc.)
• Encyclopedias• History books ( your Social Studies textbook)•
These are all secondary sources because they were written “after” events happened or about events.
The information written was not written by a person that actually experienced the historical event.
Write About It!
Can you think of anything in this classroom or at home that is a secondary source? Write on your note page.
Ex. Textbooks for school(you may not use my example)
Primary or Secondary?
The actual written U.S. Constitution
primary
Primary or Secondary?
A biography about the 1st president, George Washington
secondary
Primary or Secondary?
The History Channel explaining how life was for a slave.
secondary
Primary or Secondary?
A reporter describing his time in Vietnam.
primary
Primary or Secondary?
A letter from John Smith about his meeting with the Powhatan Indians.
primary
Primary or Secondary?
A movie showing the life of Abraham Lincoln.
secondary
Primary or Secondary?
A painting by the artist Michelangelo.
primary
Primary or Secondary?
A newspaper article from 1941 describing the attack on Pearl Harbor.
primary
Primary or Secondary?
A radio recording of Walt Disney talking about Disney World.
primary
Primary or Secondary?
An autobiography about Bill Clinton.
primary
Examining Sources-To Believe or Not to Believe, that is the
question.
• Examining a source for ACCURACY or VALIDITY (truth) is looking to see how well the source describes what really happened and how close to the truth is the information.
• You should not believe everything you hear or read. Not every source is truthful and accurate. Primary and Secondary sources can be untrue.
• Sometimes people say or write things that are not true. A person may not have a clear memory of what happened or may be attempting to mislead you.
Examining Sources-Checklist for Accuracy
You can check a source for how accurate it is by using the following checklist:___ Can the information it presents be verified (checked for truthfulness and accuracy by other sources?___How does the author know what is reported in this source? Where is their information from?___Is the author’s information original or copied and pasted?___How does this source compare with other sources on the same topic? ___Does the author view events from a special perspective, or bias that would affect the truthfulness of the event?
Detecting Biases- A writer may have a strong opinion about a topic. If they are writing a persuasive essay, this is fine. If they are writing for the accuracy of events in which they happened, the information needs to be factual and not a one sided perspective.
