Increasingly, teachers across grade levels and content areas are discovering the power of primary sources to inform and engage students. Primary sources enable students to go "behind the scenes" and see details and, sometimes, even the thought processes involved in scientific discoveries, historical and political events, and creative works.
Two key differences between primary and secondary sources are authenticity and filters. Autobiographies or diaries, for example, provide authentic insight from the authors about their lives. Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl offers first-person immediacy that no secondary source can duplicate.
Secondary sources, such as biographies or textbooks, typically interpret and analyze primary sources. The information is filtered through the lens of the writer or editor. No matter how skillfully the information is presented or how thoroughly it has been researched, the secondary source remains an interpretation. Although the document could still be a reliable source, its author is more likely to have added his or her own biases or perspectives.
Bob Nasson, executive director of the National History Club, likens this concept to the party game Whisper Down the Lane. "Each time a story gets passed along, it gets changed a little bit," he says.
With ever-improving Internet searches and the digitization of original materials, primary sources are becoming increasingly accessible. One major repository is the Library of Congress, which also offers tips on using primary sources. Another resource is "Using Primary Sources on the Web," a website developed by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association.
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