Welcome to the Library Research Guide for ETHN 101!

This guide will offer you information and strategies on using library resources to access PRIMARY and SECONDARY sources to help you complete your assignment. 

PRIMARY SOURCES: are first hand testimonies or direct evidence on a topic and are considered original material. Created by witnesses, recorders of history, or researchers, these items are usually created at the time an event takes place, but also can be created afterwards as a autobiography, memoir, etc.  Think letters, diary entries, photographs, interviews, news stories at the time, research data, oral histories, speeches, television programs, etc.

SECONDARY SOURCES: are created after something occurs and usually look back at primary sources. Think criticisms, books on a topic, textbooks, history books, journal articles, etc.

Warning: these definitions and examples can get all muddled depending upon the area of study and context.