Primary Sources vs. Secondary Sources: Can you tell the difference?
The writer or creator of the primary source is likely to be a participant or observer of an historical event, and offers an account of a particular time period.
Some examples of primary resources include:
- Letters Written by Ebenezer Huntington During the American Revolution
- Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution, 1775-1783
- An Original Sketch by an English Officer on Board of One of Admiral Howe's Fleet while at Anchor in New York Harbor, just after The Battle of Long Island
- Memoir of a Revolutionary Soldier: The Narrative of Joseph Plumb Martin
NYPL Digital Collections Image ID: psnypl_rbk_946
Secondary sources are usually, but not always, created well after the event occurred. These sources add interpretation or analysis to a historical event or time period. Good secondary sources use primary sources as evidence. They usually attach a bibliography which can be a good starting point for catalog searches.
Some secondary sources include:
NYPL Resources for Locating Primary Resources
The staff at NYPL have written many helpful guides and blogs about using primary resources in your research:
Revolutionary War Diaries
Diaries are an invaluable primary source as firsthand accounts of what life was like, not only for officers and soldiers, but for a wide variety of people.
Genealogy databases like Ancestry Library Edition, which is available onsite at the library, includes collections like Journals and diaries of the war of the revolution with lists of officers and soldiers, 1775-1783 where you can read items like the Diary of Captain James Duncan in the Yorktown Campaign of 1781.
There are also digital catalogs like HathiTrust, which is freely available online, and has books like Memoirs of Mrs. Coghlan, (daughter of the late Major Moncrieffe) written by herself, and dedicated to the British nation; being interspersed with anecdotes of the late American and present French war, with remarks moral and political.
Research tip: If you're searching for Revolutionary War diaries, consider search terms like "personal narratives," "autobiographies" or "journals."
- Ancestry Library Edition
Access billions of names in thousands of genealogical databases including Census and Vital Records, birth, marriage and death notices, the Social Security Death Index, Passenger lists and naturalizations, Military and Holocaust Records, City Directories, New York Emigrant Savings Bank records, and African American and Native American Records. Library version of Ancestry.com.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A collaborative repository of digital content from major research libraries including content digitized via the Google Books project and Internet Archive initiatives, as well as content digitized locally by libraries. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
Resources at NYPL
- American Founding Era Papers
Digital editions for the papers of those central to the founding and early history of the United States, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, and Dolly Madison. For biographical information on individuals mentioned in these papers, see People of the Founding Era. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- America: History and Life with Full Text
Indexes the scholarly literature of the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With full-text coverage of hundreds of journals and books, and selective indexing for journals dating back nearly 60 years.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- American Periodicals (1740-1940)
This database contains over 1,800 magazines, journals, and newspapers published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically significant titles. Some of these titles are archived at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL).
This database can be searched simultaneously with the various ProQuest historical newspapers, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.** - Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
A historical archive of several million cross-searchable pages of books, serials, supreme court records and briefs, and key manuscript collections from the United States, Great Britain, and France concerning debates of slavery and abolition, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Institution of Slavery, and the Age of Emancipation. Provides a context for further research through links to chronology, biographies, bibliographies, and websites. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- U.S. History in Context
Coverage of the most-studied U.S. history topics including from the arrival of Vikings in North America, American Revolution, Civil Rights movement, 9/11, and the War on Terror through a web-like experience that supports the development of critical thinking and information literacy skills. Noted for access to primary source documents. Dates of Coverage: Prehistory-present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
More Archival Collections
Explore these databases, all freely available from home:
- ArchiveGrid is a database for descriptions of special collections of more than 1,400 archival institutions including libraries, museums, and historical societies.
- Google Books provides previews of books and sometimes full text scans if the book is out of copyright.
- HathiTrust is a digital archive that provides access to over 17 million digitized items in a collaboration with academic and research libraries.
- Internet Archive is a digital library with access to digitized items like books, websites, images, and more.
- Other libraries, museums, and historical societies also have digital collections, like the Library of Congress.
Types of Primary Sources
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- Memoirs
- Prints
- Maps
- Newspapers
- Sheet music
- Broadsides
- Land records
- Family bibles
Types of Secondary Sources
- Biographies
- Books that interpret or analyze events
- Scholarly journal articles
- Textbooks
- Documentaries
Teaching with Primary Sources: Suggested Titles
Want to find these books at a library near you? Try searching WorldCat!
Interacting with History by Call Number: IAE 16-1452ISBN: 9780838912058Publication Date: 2014-06-09With nearly 142 million items and one of the largest bodies of high-quality, digitized content available, the Library of Congress (LOC) is an enormously useful resource for librarians and teachers. Yet it remains a mystery to many. Exploring the wealth of materials freely available for free from LOC, Lehman and a stellar roundup of contributors offer an up-to-date survey of teacher resources to help teachers and librarian educators shake the dust off state-mandated history and literature curricula.
Beyond the Textbook by Call Number: *R-USLHG D16.3 .K64 1996ISBN: 0435088807Publication Date: 1996-05-06Beyond the Textbook is a chronicle of what happened when several "interesting ideas" about teaching and learning history were put to the test in Providence, Rhode Island, public schools. Here, diverse mainstream students used documents and primary sources to actually construct history, acting as historians and drawing their own conclusions about the past.
NYPL Archives and Manuscripts
The Manuscripts and Archives Division
Archives are records of people and organizations as they lived and worked. These records can come in a variety of formats like meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, and more. Archives usually collect records that preserve cultural or historical events.
Search the Archives Portal to see the records in NYPL's collections.
Learn more by exploring the research guide, Getting Started with Archives.
Schedule a virtual consultation with the reference librarians in the Manuscripts and Archives Division or send an email to manuscripts@nypl.org