Primary sources may be published or unpublished, or may not even be written material. Common primary sources include:
Common secondary sources might include:
Additionally, tertiary sources are those that synthesize secondary sources (so they are even further removed from the first-hand experiences that are documented in primary sources).
Primary sources convey first-hand experience of the event or time period you’re studying.
Secondary sources convey the experiences of others, or “second-hand” information; they often synthesize a collection of primary sources.
There's also a third group called tertiary sources, which are like "third-hand" information; they usually synthesize a collection of secondary sources.
First, read the source!! Then ask yourself:
Try to fill in this sentence: "This is a _____ written by ____, who is ____. It was written in ____ and it contains _____."
Then read that sentence aloud and ask yourself: does that add up to Primary or Secondary?