Primary & secondary material

Primary material, also known as 'primary source' material, is first-hand information that has been created by people who witnessed the events they've recorded. Primary material can include documents, illustrations, photographs, maps, music, audio recordings, etc.

Using primary material in your work not only adds credibility to your argument, but it demonstrates that you are an expert researcher.

Secondary material interprets and comments on primary material. Primary sources are used by a wide range of people – writers, academics, students, artists and others – as part of their work. Each secondary source created can potentially provide a different interpretation of the significance of the primary source.

It can be hard to know which secondary source to trust. If you're not sure:

• re-read the original and make up your own mind

• look for the most current secondary source

• look at several other secondary sources to get an overview of what people think.