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Primary Sources in Archives & Special Collections

Identifying and locating primary sources at Purdue University Archives and Special Collections and Beyond

What is a Primary Source?

Primary Sources:  A primary source is a record of a person, event, or occurrence that was created by an eye-witness or participant's version of an event.  Primary sources allow researchers to gain better insight into historical figures and events.

Examples of Primary Sources

Diaries

Letters

Notes from lab experiments

Photographs

Blogs

Emails

Maps

Scrapbooks

Facebook pages

Poetry

Artwork

Birthday cards

Office records

Artifacts