Original: In the study of history as an academic discipline , a primary source ( also called original source or evidence ) it is an artifact , a document , a recording , or other source of information that was created at the time under study . It serves as an original source of information about the topic .
Simplified: In historiography and other areas of scholarship , a primary source ( also called original source ) is a document , recording or other source of information that was created at the time that is studied .