People living in the past left many clues about their lives. These clues include both primary and secondary sources in the form of books, personal papers, government documents, letters, oral accounts, diaries, maps, photographs, reports, novels and short stories, artifacts, coins, stamps and many other things. Historians call all of these clues together the historical record. The Teaching Library at the University of California at Berkeley supports undergraduate education by providing services and resources that serve to bridge the gap between the classroom and The Library's information resources. The Teaching Library supplements the subject-oriented training received in the classroom with instruction in information resources and search techniques.
Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants or observers.
A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or phenomenon. Examples of secondary sources include textbooks and encyclopedias. The website provides tips for locating primary source material and offers an excellent bibliography. The common thread running through the examples is that primary sources of material can be in any form, and are a source of direct evidence that describes or documents an historical event from the perspective of someone who was there. Students should be cautioned to examine primary resources critically to determine the author's perspective.