Primary Source Information comes directly from real life data or from the time of an event.

Examples include: 

• statistics,
• laboratory or social experiments and scholarly articles that report on the results,
• news reporting that occurs when an event happens,
• diaries/journals,
• product specifications, and
• transcripts of speeches, testimony, or meetings.

Secondary Source Information comes from a collection of primary-source data that is drawn together to provide a larger picture view of an event or to provide an opinion or review.

Examples include: 

• most textbooks,
• summaries of past research (called "literature reviews"),
• overviews and encyclopedia works,
• policy or product recommendations and
• reviews of products or works.