What source of information are documents made after an event has taken place?

Primary sources are artifacts or first hand accounts of an event or topic created by an individual or individuals who had a direct connection with the event or topic.

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Selecting the Best Primary Sources
Newspapers - Primary Source?
What type of sources that information is made after an event has taken?
What type of source of information is a document?
What is the type of sources that are written at the time of the event and are from the official credible sources of information?

Primary sources will vary in type depending upon the discipline, but can include:

Personal writings (letters, diaries, autobiographies, emails, social media posts, etc.,)
Photographs, Artwork, Graphic Designs, etc.,
Clothing & Textiles
News Coverage (video, audio, & print)
Video & Audio

Data (financial/economic, census, statistics, etc.,)
Interviews & Speeches (any format)
Company Records (financial, legal, etc.,)
Public Records (laws, meeting minutes, etc.,)
Data and experimental design from experiments

Discipline	Primary Source Examples
Advertising	Ads, Ad campaign
Accounting/Business	Financial Documents of Companies
Art	Artwork, Image, Photograph, Artists' writings, interview with artist
Athletic Training	Original Research Study with methods, results and participants
Biology	Original Research Study with methods, results and participants or materials
Chemistry	Original Research Study with methods, results and materials
Communication/Sports Communication	Social media, news coverage
Criminal Justice	Research studies with methods, materials, and results, data, government policy and laws
Economics	Economic philosophy texts, economic data and government documents
Education	Data from research studies or surveys, education law and policy, lessons plans and teaching materials
English/Literature	Work of Literature, Author's diary or letters
Environmental Science & Policy	Original Research Study with methods, results and materials
Fashion	Clothing, Designer's Sketches
Fashion Merchandising	Business or Advertising Plan, financial documents
History	Memoir, Journal, Letters, film footage, speeches
Journalism	Interviews recorded or written
Legal/Paralegal	Legal Statute or Court Case
Media Studies	Film, television shows, video games, scripts
Medical Technology	Original Research Study with methods, results and participants or materials
Philosophy	Philosophers' writings, speeches, diaries, letters
Physical Therapy	Original Research Study with methods, results and participants
Physician Assistant	Original Research Study with methods, results and participants
Political Science	Legislative Documents
Psychology	Practitioner's Case Notes, Original Research Study with methods, results and participants
Public Administration	government documents, company reports, reports of non-profit organizations
Religion	Religious texts
Social Work	Census or Raw Data, Practitioner's Case Notes, Original Research Study with methods, results and participants

Selecting the Best Primary Sources

Time and Place Rule

The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be. Better primary sources (starting with the most reliable) might include:

Direct traces of the event;
Accounts of the event, created at the time it occurred, by firsthand observers and participants;
Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers and participants;
Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred, by people who did not participate or witness the event, but who used interviews or evidence from the time of the event.

The Bias Rule

Every source is biased in some way. Documents tell us only what the creator of the document thought happened, or what the creator wants us to think happened. As a result, researchers follow these guidelines when reviewing evidence from past events:

Every piece of evidence and every source must be read or viewed skeptically and critically.
No piece of evidence should be taken at face value. The creator's point of view must be considered.
Each piece of evidence and source must be cross-checked and compared with related sources and pieces of evidence.

Newspapers - Primary Source?

What type of sources that information is made after an event has taken?

Secondary Sources A secondary source is generally one or more steps removed from the event or time period and are written or produced after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. Secondary sources often lack the freshness and immediacy of the original material.

What type of source of information is a document?

An individual document may be a primary source in one context and a secondary source in another. Encyclopedias are typically considered tertiary sources, but a study of how encyclopedias have changed on the Internet would use them as primary sources.

What is the type of sources that are written at the time of the event and are from the official credible sources of information?

Primary sources provide firsthand evidence gathered by the author(s). They may be created or documented at the time of an event, as in scholarly research articles, reports, letters, speeches, diaries, photographs, conference proceedings, and newspaper reports.