BLM I.2
Name: __________________________
Date: ____________________
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES
Primary and secondary sources have advantages and disadvantages. Every source must be
examined carefully to consider the creator’s perspective and the situation in which the source
was created.
Type of Source
PRIMARY
SECONDARY
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples
• is created at the time
when the event took
place
• can provide insight into
the lives and attitudes
of people at a particular
time
• can be affected by
personal points of view,
biases, and limited
perspective
• can be misleading
because of the creator’s
lack of knowledge or
lack of understanding of
a situation
• can be exaggerated by
the creator to impress
his or her audience
Original documents, such
as
• diaries
• autobiographies
• letters
• provides the
perspective of
historians and other
experts and their
interpretation of primary
sources
• provides information
that the original source
may not have had
• provides a broader
perspective taken from
multiple points of view
• provides the advantage
of hindsight
• places information and
events into their
historical context
• can be affected by the
creator’s personal
opinions or feelings
about the topic
• is limited by the
creator’s knowledge
and understanding of
the topic
• is limited to the aspect
of the topic that the
creator has chosen to
focus on
• is limited by presentism
because the creator
cannot fully understand
the lives and thinking of
people of the time being
studied
Published works, such as
• textbooks
• magazines
• books written by
someone who was not
directly involved with
the events described,
including biographies
• reference books, such
as encyclopedias and
historical atlases
BLACKLINE MASTER I.2: Primary and Secondary Sources
Artifacts, such as
• clothing
• jewellery
• furniture
• tools