Primary and Secondary Sources of Information

1. Primary and Secondary Sources of Information By Ms. Starr September, 2009

2. When you study social studies, you need proof of what happened. • Primary Sources • Secondary Sources

3. Primary Sources • Data and information by people who actually saw or took place in an event. • Examples: Diary, journal, letters, poems, paintings, pictures.

4. Secondary Sources • Data or information that was collected by someone who was not at an actual event. • Examples: Textbooks, books written about the event by people who were not there, newspapers, magazines.

5. Some types of information can be both. • Newspapers have both primary and secondary sources in them. • If a reporter writes about a fire and he was at the fire, then his newspaper article is a primary source. • If a reporter writes about a fire, but gets his information later from the fire department, his article is a secondary source.

6. Try it out. • Primary or Secondary Source? Diary

7. Textbooks

8. Newspapers

9. Check your answers. • Diary – primary source • Textbooks- secondary sources • Newspapers – contain both primary and secondary source information