10 About Primary Sources
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources are original materials. They are first-hand accounts created at the time under study and may include:
- diaries, letters, photographs, original documents, maps, original film or sound recordings, interviews, speeches, newspaper articles
Examples:
Music Score
Postcard
Map
Image attributions: Images courtesy of Peel’s Prairie Provinces, a digital initiative of the University of Alberta Libraries.
How are Primary Sources cited?
Not all primary sources are cited the same way. Your notes / bibliography entries should be based on the following:
- who wrote the original item?
- what type of source is this?
- when was the original item written/created?
- how is this source accessed?
For example, a book or newspaper article written 80 years ago is cited the same way as a book or newspaper article published today. However, items accessed in online repositories should be cited according to type and include a URL. (see section 14.221 of the Chicago Manual for more information).
Example
A letter (primary source) accessed in an online archive:
Footnote/endnote for the above letter:
1. Ball to Earl, August 1, 1917, World War One Collections, The Canadian Letters & Images Project, https://www.canadianletters.ca/document-22249 .
Bibliography entry:
Ball, R. G. Earl, Letter: 1917 August 1st. World War One Collections. The Canadian Letters & Images Project, https://www.canadianletters.ca/document-22249. August 1, 1917.
