In research, primary sources are not the most important or the first sources a person accesses. They are original; such a source might be a work of art if one is to write about the artist, a survey of student opinions for a topic of interest on campus, or old newspapers if one is looking for attitudes about a given event in the past. Pirmary means first in that the material must be interpreted by teh writer.

Secondary sources are the information from someone who has written up the research into primary materials. It has been interpreted by the researcher.

Both sources are important and necessary, depending on the kind of writing the student is doing. Since most library research is secondary, can you think of any primary sources that might help you write the final paper for this class?