There are some items that are always considered primary sources and some that may be considered primary sources under the right circumstances.
The items that are always considered primary sources are:
- Manuscripts
- Letters
- Journals
- Diaries
- Interviews
- Speeches
- Memos
- Autobiographies
- Memoirs
- Photographs
- Audio recordings
- Video recordings
- Maps
- Census data
- Birth and Death certificates
- Marriage Licenses
- Minutes
- Reports
- Correspondence
- Field notes
- Results from scientific experiments
- Scholarly activity of a particular time
- Physical objects.
The items that are sometimes considered primary sources are:
- Books written at the time about a particular event
- Magazine and Journal articles written at the time about a particular event
- Newspaper articles written at the time about a particular event
- Literature, film, popular fiction, textbooks documenting the mentality or psychology of a particular time.
Final note: Always ask your professor when you are in doubt!