Primary sources are first-person accounts or direct evidence of the topics or events you are researching. They may include letters, diaries, photographs, autobiographies, records such as birth certificates or land deeds, treaties and other government documents, news footage and eyewitness articles, plays, movies, music, works of art, speeches, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, architectural plans, and many other kinds of artifacts.
Secondary sources analyze, summarize, interpret, or comment on events or culture. They are usually created by someone who did not experience an event first-hand. They may include: textbooks; encyclopedias; scholarly journal articles; biographies; criticism of music, literature, or film; political or cultural analysis; and news reports other than first-hand accounts.
The following video tutorial covers how to distinguish between and use primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in your academic life (from off campus you will need to log in using your Pipeline username and password):
The following video describes how the peer review process works, why it's important, and how to locate peer-reviewed articles (from off campus you will need to log in using your Pipeline username and password):
The following tutorial explores how to identify scholarly sources and how to read them strategically (from off campus you will need to log in using your Pipeline username and password):