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definition: Primary sources

Original manuscripts, contemporary records, and documents. Primary sources are directly related to an issue or event.

Examples:

  • private diaries
  • photographs
  • novels, poems, plays
  • movies, screenplays
  • interviews with the person(s) directly involved
  • a report written by a witness of an event (composed that day); for example, newspaper articles describing that day or previous day's events; "contemporary" accounts
  • direct results of research
Colorado State University Libraries
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