Addison Trail High School

Starting Smart...

Locating Sources Exercise - Finding Evidence - Finding Experts

Before starting to gather information for your research question, think of the many places to look.
If possible, gather both Primary and Secondary sources.

Objectives

		Be able to identify Primary and Secondary sources.
		Identify more than one source for locating information.

PRIMARY SOURCES: Literary works (poems, plays, essays, novels); tables of statistics, interviews, speeches, autobiographies; letters... It is the firsthand evidence of historical events or periods.

SECONDARY SOURCES: Comments or analysis, either written or spoken of an original text or document; biographies... It is NOT an original text or document but someone's comments on or analysis of a primary source. For example, a study of economic trends based on Census data would be a secondary source. It is a later interpretation of historical events or periods.

Goldenberg, Phyllis. Writing a Research Paper. New York: Sadlier-Oxford, 1997.