Primary Sources - original documents, artifacts, or research. These items were likely created during the time period being studied.
- Characteristics: First hand observations, contemporary accounts of events.
- Examples: Diaries, Speeches, Interviews, Newspaper Articles (during the time being studied), Oral Histories, Photographs
Secondary Sources - Interpretations, commentary, or evaluations of primary sources.
- Characteristics: Interpretation of an event written after it has occurred
- Examples: Biographies, Editorials, Journal Articles
NOTE: Remember that context plays a role in how you determine whether a source is primary or secondary. If you're exploring how Hawaiian history was written about in textbooks from the 1990s, those textbooks would be considered primary source materials.