What is a Primary Source?

A primary source is...

• An original creation in the arts
• A first-hand testimony or direct evidence created by participants or observers of a historical event or time period
• Scientific data that has yet to be interpreted or analyzed or the original publication in which a finding appears

Primary sources are characterized by their content, not their format. Therefore, you may use:

• A photograph found online or in a book or the original photograph
• A story published in its first or its fifth edtion, in translation, or online

You may use the following types of primary sources in English 161:

• Fictional stories
• Poetry
• Myths and folktales
• Religious texts
• Autobiographies and memoirs
• Diaries or journals
• Letters or other manuscripts
• Speeches, interviews and oral histories
• Photographs * other visual arts
• Music
• Video or motion picture recordings
• Performance art
• Erotica
• Popular culture artifacts 

Related Guides

For much more information and for leads to finding primary sources, check out the GRC Subject Guide:

What is a Secondary Source?

A Secondary Source is:

• Secondary sources are publications about another text or an event. They are written or produced by groups or individuals not involved directly with the creation or the event.
• They can be articles, books, documentaries, biographies or other kinds of texts.
• They are usually written by outside experts who have researched the primary source or the event and and who are reexamining, interpreting and forming their own conclusions.

Fig. 2. Piankoff, Alexandre. Mythological Papyri (in Two Parts). New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.  

Note - You do not need the original. A copy of the primary source, such as the one above, is all that is required.