Yujiro Hanma

Understanding HISTORICAL SOURCES
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Identify the differences between a primary source and a secondary source
2. Enumerate materials that can be considered primary and secondary sources
3. Evaluate materials in terms of authenticity, credibility, and provenance
Understanding Sources
Gottschalk, in his work discusses the importance of sources for historian’s work:
1. The historian, however, has to use many materials that are not in books. He can go to the museums, go to the
archives, courthouses, government libraries and etc. He need to look for the materials who has bearing in order for him
to bridge the gap and find answers on the matter that he/she was looking for.
What are the two Types of Historical Sources?
Historical facts/data are obtained from both Primary and Secondary Sources:
Primary Sources
 Provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art.
 Provide the original materials on which other research is based and enable students and other researchers to
get as close as possible to what actually happened during a particular event or time period.
 Primary sources can be written or non-written (sound, pictures, artifacts, etc.). In scientific research, primary
sources present original thinking, report on discoveries, or share new information.
 Historians use the term primary source to describe all sources that are original. Primary sources provide
firsthand information that is closest to the object of study.
Examples of primary sources:
 Autobiographies and memoirs

 Diaries, personal letters, and correspondence
 Interviews, surveys, and fieldwork
 Internet communications on email, blogs, and newsgroups
 Photographs, drawings, and posters
 Works of art and literature
 Books, magazine and newspaper articles and ads published at the time
 Public opinion polls
 Speeches and oral histories
 Original documents
 Research data, such as census statistics
 Official records of organizations and government agencies
 Artifacts of all kinds
 Audio recordings
 Government documents
 Patents
 Technical reports
 Scientific journal articles reporting experimental research results
Types of Primary Sources

Literary or cultural sources:
 novels, plays, poems (both published and in manuscript form)

 television shows, movies, or videos
 paintings or photographs
Accounts that describe events, people, or ideas:
 newspapers
 chronicles or historical accounts
 essays and speeches
 memoirs, diaries, and letters
 philosophical treatises or manifestos
Finding Information about people:
 census records
 obituaries
 newspaper articles
 biographies
Finding information about organizations:
 archives (sometimes held by libraries, institutions, or historical societies)

 Search, Library Catalog Search or WorldCat using the name of the organization as an author
Finding information about a place:
 maps and atlases

 census information
 statistics
 photographs
 city directories
 the local library or historical society
ONE OF THE EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY SOURCES: PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED PRIMARY DOCUMENTS, EYEWITNESS
ACCOUNTS AND OTHER WRITTEN SOURCES
THE FRONT PAGE OF SUNDAY TRIBUNE PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 10, 1935

FEATURED THE APPROVAL OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINE
COMMONWEALTH
MAP SHOWING THE KATIPUNAN MOVEMENT BY D. A. NAVARRO
A Filipino street demonstration calling for the United States to give the Philippines its independence. Circa early 1930s.
Photo from Museo ni Manuel L. Quezon via indiohistorian.
Secondary Sources
 Describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources.
 Generally one or more steps removed from the event or time period and are written or produced after the fact
with the benefit of hindsight.
 Often lack the freshness and immediacy of the original material.
 Secondary sources will collect, organize, and repackage primary source information to increase usability and
speed of delivery, such as an online encyclopedia.
A secondary source is a source that provides non-original or secondhand data or information.
Gottschalk simply defines secondary sources as “the testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness”.
These are books, articles, and scholarly journals that had interpreted primary sources or used them to discuss certain
subjects of history.
Examples of secondary sources:
• Articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers editorial/commentaries
• Literature reviews and review articles (e.g., movie reviews, book reviews)
• Works of criticisms and interpretations
Secondary Sources
 Secondary sources are usually based on primary sources. Historians typically use these secondary resources to
get a better understanding of a topic and to find further primary and secondary sources on a topic.
Questions to ask yourself to help you determine whether a source is primary or secondary, there are some simple
questions you can ask yourself:
 Was the source created at the time and/or location of the event or time period? (e.g. a photograph of the moon
landing)
 Was the person who created the source directly involved in the event or time period
 Does the source provide an outlet for persons who were directly involved in the event or time period to share
their story?
 Is the source a piece of art, a work of literature, a film created by or starring your subject of study, or a
photograph?
 Is the source a legal document, an original collection of data or statistics, or a personal communication?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then it’s most likely a primary source
Which Type of Sources Carry a Greater Weight? Primary Source or Secondary Source?
 In general, primary sources are considered more credible and authoritative. They report actual evidence, and
evidence cannot be wrong.5
Important things to remember:
A primary source must have been used or produced by someone with first-hand experience of an event.
Secondary sources are created by people who are not present during the events but who reference the primary sources
for information.
Take note:
 A book is simply a format. You can find both primary and secondary sources published in book form.
 Secondary sources are interpretations and analyses based on primary sources.
 For example, an autobiography is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source.

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Understanding HISTORICAL SOURCES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Identify the differences between a primary source and a secondary source

2. Enumerate materials that can be considered primary and secondary sources

3. Evaluate materials in terms of authenticity, credibility, and provenance

What are the two Types of Historical Sources?

Examples of primary sources:

 Autobiographies and memoirs

Types of Primary Sources

 novels, plays, poems (both published and in manuscript form)

Accounts that describe events, people, or ideas:

Finding Information about people:

Finding information about organizations:

 archives (sometimes held by libraries, institutions, or historical societies)

Finding information about a place:

 maps and atlases

THE FRONT PAGE OF SUNDAY TRIBUNE PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 10, 1935

A secondary source is a source that provides non-original or secondhand data or information.

• Articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers editorial/commentaries

• Works of criticisms and interpretations

Important things to remember:

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