Primary Sources

Primary sources are documents or records containing firsthand information or original data on a particular subject. Most were created at the very time the event took place. They may also be the memoirs, journals or correspondence compiled at a later date by a direct participant or observer of an event.

Primary sources may include original manuscripts, periodical articles, diaries, memoirs, letters, journals, photographs, drawings, posters, film footage, sheet music, recorded music, recorded or transcribed interviews, government documents, public records, and newspapers.

Primary sources are also sometimes called simply manuscripts, meaning a wide array of primary source materials. Manuscripts and archival materials are distinct from other library materials in the ways they are described, accessed, handled and evaluated. In the truest sense, manuscripts are handwritten documents.

Lehigh University has a wide array of primary source material in archives and special collections. Some of these collections have been digitized for easier access. An example is the I Remain collection.

The American Library Association (ALA) provides a guide to Using Primary Sources on the Web.

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