HIST 101 Introduction to History -- Ryan Crisp 

HISTORY SOURCES:  PRIMARY & SECONDARY

Sound historical interpretations must be based on trustworthy primary and secondary sources.  History students must learn how to select good source material for doing scholarly research.  Secondary sources provide a general background for a topic while primary documents provide original eyewitness information.  Consequently, it is imperative that students of history not only learn to distinguish between these kinds of sources, but they must also learn how to find and use both types of sources. 

Novices in the field of history often have difficulty distinguishing between primary and secondary sources.  When asked for a list primary sources, they simply mention oral interviews, letters, diaries, journals, census records, and other government documents.  And then, they identify textbooks, newspapers, journal articles, and books as secondary sources.  Using this classification, the Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era, Abraham Lincoln: a History, With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln,, Lincoln the President, and Lincoln would all be secondary sources   However, this classification is too simple. 

Deciding what are the primary and secondary sources depends on the basic research question.  If one were to ask, how have historians interpreted the life of Abraham Lincoln all these books in the previous paragraph would become primary sources except Battle Cry of Freedom.  This book covers the topic of the Civil War era instead of focusing on Lincoln.  On this research topic alone, there are "more sources than any one person could not possibly read in a life time.  McPherson noted there are Amore works on Abraham Lincoln than on any other person except Jesus Christ and William Shakespeare."^[1]  A biographer of Lincoln, David Donald, declared that "Jay Monaghan's Lincoln Bibliography requires 1,079 pages merely to list the books and pamphlets published before 1939, even when the experts lost count."^[2] 

This large number of books and pamphlets creates an overwhelming problem for anyone who wants to research Abraham Lincoln.  Where does one begin looking for the best sources when faced with such a monumental task?  Start by identifying the scholars who are respected in the field of study.  To do this, scan the professional literature and discover those persons who have been recognized for their scholarship.  For example if one were writing on some phase of Lincoln's life, check the bibliography and notes that the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Donald includes in his recent biography of Lincoln and examine James McPherson's bibliographies.  McPherson not only published several books on the Civil War, but he was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Indexes are another valuable source for locating sources on topics.  Check the indexes that have been written in the field that you plan to study.  Talk with the librarians and ask them for help in locating the indexes for the field of history that you plan to research.  If for example one planned to research a topic in LDS Church history, check the most complete and the most recent index that lists the books in this field.  Go to James Allen, Ronald Walker, and David Whittaker's  Studies in Mormon History, 1830-1997: An Indexed Bibliography.  This book lists all the books and articles that have been published from 1830 to 1997.  The online database brings the list of books and articles up-to-date.