Eastern Kentucky University LibGuides@EKU - Doing Research

What are primary sources?

Original, uninterpreted information, primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants or observers of a given event or during a particular period of time.

Diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, oral histories, documents, artifacts, letters, manuscripts, interviews, memoirs, postcards, maps, photographs, audio and video recordings, posters, research data, objects

Availability

The availability and kinds of primary sources vary with time period and topic.

Primary sources for earlier periods of time will be more scarce than for recent times.

Primary sources are usually in the original language.

from University of Washington Libraries

What are secondary sources?

Secondary materials synthesize and interpret primary materials.

Books, journal articles, textbooks, encyclopedias

Primary Sources at EKU Libraries

University Archives at EKU contains primary sources including Carl D. Perkins papers, EKU and Richmond history, and digitzed photographs and postcards.

Government Documents (link to govdocs libguide and/or Linda's database) at EKU has primary resources such as Congressional Record, Foreign Relation of the U.S., War of the Rebellion and more!

The Main Collection of EKU Libraries includes personal narratives and essential primary sources