Primary sources are original sources, in which witnesses or first recorders describe a time, person or event. They are the subjective interpretation of a witness to an event and serve as the materials historians use to analyze the past. Primary sources can either be the original document or published at a later date in electronic, microfilm and printed collections.
Some types of primary sources include:
- published materials (books, magazine and newspaper articles) written at the particular time
- handwritten documents, such as diaries and journals
- speeches, interviews, letters
- memoirs and autobiographies
- manuscripts
- maps
- laws and court cases
- records of government agencies
- records of organizations
- public opinion polls
- fiction from a particular time and place
- photographs, audio recordings, movies and videos
- art, including paintings, prints and other media
- artifacts, such as furniture, clothing, tools, clothing, jewelry, pottery, etc.
- religious and philosophical texts
