[00:00:01.191] For years, GALE has digitized [00:00:03.090] primary source content [00:00:05.054] from the holdings of some of the world's largest [00:00:07.687] and most prominent libraries and archives. [00:00:11.183] Through our digital collections, [00:00:13.175] GALE makes available to researchers and students [00:00:16.395] millions of pages of primary source content, [00:00:19.862] some of which has never before been digitized. [00:00:24.062] What are primary sources? [00:00:26.404] In research, a primary source is a document or artifact [00:00:30.222] that has survived in its original form [00:00:32.500] and provides you, the researcher, a firsthand account [00:00:35.736] of the event, person, or time period you're researching. [00:00:40.711] Examples of primary sources include personal accounts, [00:00:45.578] correspondences, news coverage, [00:00:49.375] documents, images, audio and video, [00:00:54.111] creative works, works of art and other artifacts, [00:00:58.970] and ephemera. [00:01:00.921] Let's take a closer look [00:01:02.180] at some examples of primary source material. [00:01:30.610] Letters and other correspondences are also primary sources, [00:01:34.971] like this letter from William Wilberforce, [00:01:40.231] as well as speeches and interviews [00:01:43.162] like this transcription of a 1935 radio broadcast. [00:01:48.589] Articles and notices published in newspapers, [00:01:51.188] magazines, and journals are primary sources [00:01:54.192] if they were written during the event or period [00:01:57.371] or by people who witnessed the event you're researching. [00:02:02.614] Here's coverage of the presidential election of 1800 [00:02:08.071] and commodity prices from 1785, [00:02:11.726] both published in newspapers of the time. [00:02:15.124] Government and legal documents, [00:02:17.313] such as this court document from 1885, [00:02:20.346] are primary source documents, [00:02:23.501] as are maps, drawings, photographs, [00:02:27.063] audio recordings and video recordings [00:02:29.334] created during the period you're researching [00:02:31.982] or by the person you're researching, [00:02:34.919] like this map of central Africa [00:02:36.904] drawn around 1890. [00:02:41.244] Even creative works such as stories, [00:02:44.091] poems and songs, [00:02:45.645] and works of art are primary sources, [00:02:49.020] like this lithograph from 1850 [00:02:51.684] or this sheet music from 1899. [00:02:55.968] Clothing, consumer items, [00:02:57.895] craft items, and other artifacts [00:03:00.827] like this Confederate Army major general's coat [00:03:05.030] as well as this medicine chest from the 1700s [00:03:08.710] and this early Bayer aspirin carton [00:03:11.026] from the early 1900s [00:03:13.063] are also primary sources. [00:03:15.848] Items such as brochures, catalogs, [00:03:19.119] campaign paraphernalia, [00:03:20.991] postcards, and posters advertising [00:03:23.842] or commemorating an event, [00:03:26.212] sometimes referred to as ephemera [00:03:28.546] since they were originally expected [00:03:30.171] to only have short term usefulness, [00:03:32.691] are also primary sources. [00:03:35.012] This advertisement and invoice [00:03:36.772] for wagon and farm equipment [00:03:38.244] from around 1890 [00:03:42.081] and this women's suffrage poster [00:03:43.584] from around 1920 are great examples [00:03:46.473] of this type of primary source document. [00:03:49.633] As you can see, [00:03:51.020] primary sources paint a picture [00:03:52.858] of what life was like at a given period and time. [00:03:57.504] Secondary sources on the other hand, [00:03:59.826] often based on primary sources, [00:04:02.311] were created at a later time [00:04:04.279] by a person who did not experience the event firsthand. [00:04:08.736] The following are generally considered secondary sources, [00:04:12.278] biographies, newspaper, [00:04:14.127] magazine, and journal articles [00:04:16.192] about an event or about a person [00:04:18.285] written at a later time, [00:04:20.565] essays, reviews, commentaries, [00:04:22.981] and works of criticism written at a later time, [00:04:26.411] entries from dictionaries, encyclopedia, [00:04:29.157] and other reference books, [00:04:31.369] as well as scholarly works and textbooks [00:04:34.132] that were not published during the time you're researching. [00:04:38.103] While these kind of sources are thought of [00:04:40.477] as secondary sources [00:04:42.050] depending on what you're researching, [00:04:44.399] they at times can be used as primary sources [00:04:47.430] when taken as a historical record [00:04:49.420] of how people were interpreting that event [00:04:51.977] in a time earlier than ours. [00:04:54.549] Secondary source material, [00:04:56.354] unlike primary source material, [00:04:58.169] give another person's perspective, [00:05:00.473] interpretation, analysis, [00:05:02.809] or conclusions on an event, person, or period. [00:05:07.650] So remember, primary sources are documents [00:05:10.832] or artifacts that have survived in their original form [00:05:14.487] and provide firsthand accounts of events, [00:05:17.507] people, or a period. [00:05:20.079] They paint a picture of what life was like [00:05:22.340] at a given period in time, [00:05:25.437] and they allow you to develop your own perspectives, [00:05:28.908] interpretations, analysis, [00:05:31.521] or conclusions about the event, person, [00:05:34.514] or period you're researching.