[MUSIC PLAYING] Do you have an assignment
that calls for using primary or secondary sources? Do you need some help
figuring out which is which? This tutorial will
help you understand the difference between
primary and secondary sources. You'll learn about their traits,
see some examples of each, and learn when to
use each of them. Primary sources are
firsthand accounts, such as letters, diaries,
speeches, or interviews. They are original
documents created by people who directly witnessed
what they're describing, people who were there. Let's look at some
primary source examples. For social studies, you may
find a newspaper article written during the Revolutionary War,
a transcript of a speech given by George Washington, excerpts
from the journals of Lewis and Clark, or newsreel video
footage of World War II. For art, you may find a willow
basket by an Apache Indian artist, Mary Cassatt's
painting, Little Girl In Blue Armchair, or Wassily
Kandinsky's painting, Circles In a Circle. As for science, you
may find statistics about the decline in the
population of bees or a drawing from the Wright brothers'
patent for their flying machine. So when should you
use primary sources? Use primary sources
when you want to get a sense of what it was
like to experience something in person. For example, you may want to
read an eyewitness account, view photographs,
or watch a video. You may want to interpret
data for yourself or personally reflect on
works of art and literature. In contrast, secondary
sources interpret or analyze primary sources. They are not created by those
who have directly witnessed what they are describing. Instead, the authors
of secondary sources are often experts
in their field who build upon information
from primary sources by summarizing, discussing,
commenting on, evaluating, reviewing, drawing
conclusions, and so on. Let's look at some
secondary source examples. For social studies, you
may find a book discussing the Revolutionary War from both
the American and the British perspectives, an article
analyzing President George Washington's speaking
style , a biography about York's contribution to the
Lewis and Clark expedition, or a documentary recounting one
of the final events of World War II. As for art, you
may find an article about Native American
basket weaving techniques, a book about Mary Cassatt's
life and paintings, or a lecture given about Kandinsky's
painting style. And for science, you may
find a newspaper article about how to help
the declining bee population or a book about how
the Wright brothers invented the airplane. So when should you
use secondary sources? A common use is for gathering
information about a subject, helping you build
background knowledge. Use secondary
sources when you want to see what others who have
studied or investigated a topic or event have learned about it. Or you may want to read an
expert's analysis of an issue or interpretation of a
work of art or literature. OK. Now it's your turn to try. For a topic about themes
in Mo Willems' books, which of these two examples
is a primary source, and which is a secondary source? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary source is
the book, Waiting Is Not Easy!, written by Mo Willems. This book is where you can
discover one of Mo Willems themes for yourself. The secondary source
is the biography about Mo Willems,
which may explain how his childhood influenced
the themes in his books. Which of these two
is a primary source for a paper about Oregon
salmon populations? Which is a secondary source? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary source
is the raw data collected by the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife showing Oregon salmon counts. It's important to
remember that in order for data to count
as a primary source, it must be unanalyzed
and in numeric form only. The example of a
secondary source is the article that
discusses the work being done to increase the number
and diversity of salmon. Now try this last example. Which is a primary
source, and which is a secondary source for a
paper about life for children on the Oregon Trail? [MUSIC PLAYING] The primary source
is the covered wagon that you can see in person
at a local history museum. The secondary
source is a web site describing what it was like to
travel by wagon on the Oregon Trail. Good thinking. Now you should better
understand the difference between primary and
secondary sources. For specific examples
and for more information about this topic and the
entire research process, explore OSLIS. Thank you to the
Oregon CLIP Project for allowing the OSLIS Committee
to adapt their tutorials. OSLIS -- Learn to Research. Research to Learn.