You may have already learned that primary sources are items from a specific time period, including eyewitness accounts, experiment results, statistical data, original pieces of creative writing, original artwork, and legal documents. By contrast, secondary sources, such as books and journal articles, comment on, interpret, or discuss primary sources. 

Our guide to finding primary sources will show you a variety of ways to access primary sources. They can be found in books and other published formats, as well as many locations around the Web. In most cases, however, the original copy of a primary source document will be housed in an archives. This guide offers more in-depth information about finding and using those resources.

Watch the video below to learn a little more about what archives are and how they work.