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How To Access Primary Sources in the Archives

Identifying and locating primary sources at Texas Wesleyan University Special Collections & University Archives

What are Primary Sources?

primary source is a record of a person, event, or occurrence created by an eyewitness or a participant's version of an event. Primary sources allow researchers to gain better insight into historical figures and events.

Primary sources emphasize the lack of intermediaries between the things or events being studied and reports of those things or events based on the belief that firsthand accounts are more accurate.

Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, notes from lab experiments, photographs, blogs, e-mails, maps, scrapbooks, Facebook pages, poetry, artwork, birthday cards, office records, and artifacts.

Primary and Secondary Sources Explained

Video Description
Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources in History.