An original, first-hand account of an event or time period. They are usually written or made during or close to the event or time period. A primary source is factual, not interpretive.
EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY SOURCES
Diaries, journals, and letters
Newspaper and magazine articles (factual accounts)
Government records (census, congressional reports, marriage, military)
Photographs, maps, postcards, posters
Recorded or transcribed speeches
Interviews with participants or witnesses to particular event (e.g., The Civil Right Movement)
In Literarure Plays, Novels, Poems, Short Stories
What is a Secondary Source?
Secondary sources interpret, analyze, and discuss the evidence provided by primary sources. They are a second-hand account or observation at least one step removed from the event.
EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY SOURCES
biographies;
commentaries and critical reviews;
dissertations
books other than fiction or autobiographies
journal, newspaper, and magazine articles written well after an event takes place
JOURNAL ARTICLES
You can find journal articles through database searches and Emory’s eJournal portal. Individual journal articles are not searchable through the library catalog.
BOOKS
The most obvious place to look for scholarly books on your topic is through the library catalog, but you can also find ebooks through Library Search and in eBook databases. Some ebook databases, such as Proquest eBooks, allows you to search through the text of the book.
Note that while many relevant and important scholarly books are published by academic presses, many important works are also published by trade presses.
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Especially when you are first starting your research, this is the arguably the most helpful place to look for secondary sources. You can find bibliographies in the scholarly works, like at the end of a book or journal article. There are also databases dedicated to bibliographies, such as Oxford Bibliographies.