Examples of primary sources:
- Artifacts (coins, specimens, fossils, furniture, clothing, tools, etc, all from the time under study)
- Audio recordings and video recordings
- Diaries
- Photographs
- Internet Communications
- Interviews (oral histories, telephone, e-mail)
- Journal articles published in peer reviewed publications
- Letters
- Newspaper articles written at the time
- Original documents (birth/death certificates, will, marriage licenses, etc)
- Patents
- Records of organizations
- Government documents
- Speeches
- Survey Research (statistics)
- Works of art, architecture, literature, and music
Examples of secondary sources:
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopaedias
- Bibliographies
- Biographical works
- Journal articles
- Magazine and newspaper articles
- Histories
- Textbooks