Research

Primary Sources
 Published at the time of the event
 Author has firsthand knowledge

 Author is an authority
Examples of Primary Sources
 Journals

 Books written in the time period you’re

researching
 Newspaper articles from the time period

 Speeches

 Government documents
Primary Sources
A primary source has to be the original
document. Electronic sources are not primary
sources (unless they are subjected to a peer
review).
Secondary Sources
 Writtenafter the event
 Author doesn’t have to have firsthand
knowledge or be an authority
Examples of Secondary
Sources
 Popularbooks
 Reference books

 Textbooks

 Recent magazine or newspaper articles

Quiz Time!
Primary or Secondary?
 Hitler’sautobiography
 An article in last week’s Time about Nazi
Germany
 The Diary of Anne Frank

 A journal written by a prisoner in Auschwitz

 Your history textbook

 A nonfiction book about the Holocaust written

two years ago
Internet Credibility
 Bevery careful about internet research.
Anyone can make a website, which means
they can write whatever they want.
3 Questions
 Who wrote the information?
 What was the author’s intent?

 Who is sponsoring the website?

(Websites that end in .edu or .gov are

generally considered to be credible
sources.)
Which is Credible?
 http://www.ci.mankato.mn.us/

 http://city-mankato.us/

 http://www.whitehouse.net/

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Media Bias
 Remember that everyone has a different
opinion about a topic, and even the most
credible sources will sometimes skew
information to reflect that opinion.
 It’s important to look at many sources to get
the most accurate information possible when
doing research.
OJ Simpson’s Mugshot
Trotsky and Stalin
President Obama
Celebrity Images