Definitions

PRIMARY SOURCE - A first-hand or eye witness account of an event; newspaper stories, reports of experiments, government documents, autobiographies, statistics, field research reports, and letters.  A primary source enables a  researcher to get a clear picture of what actually happened during an historical event or a particular time period.

SECONDARY SOURCE - A source that analyzes, relates, evaluates, or criticizes based on information gathered from primary sources.  Textbooks, encyclopedias, or recently published articles on historical topics are examples of secondary sources.    

Web Links to two sites with primary sources:

National Archives:	http://www.nara.gov/
American Memory:	http://lcweb2.loc.gov/amhome.html

---

Locating Primary Sources

To find primary sources in Holy Spirit Library use CAVALOG (http://cavalog.cabrini.edu/uhtbin/webcat).
Search under the people, groups, organizations, or agencies. 

Example: a subject search on Richard Milhous Nixon retrieves 

• KF27 .J8 1974h
  Impeachment inquiry : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, second session, pursuant to H. Res. 803 

Example: an author search on the National Conference of Catholic Bishops retrieves.

• BX1795 .E27 C37 1986
  Economic justice for all : pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy / National Conference of Catholic Bishops

For assistance in finding primary sources or identifying subject headings or corporate authors: Ask a Librarian

[return to top]