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HIS 109: History of the U.S. since 1865

Basics of Research Sources

When you conduct research for class projects, your instructor may require that you use scholarly resources or ask that some of your information be from primary sources.  Sources can be scholarly or popular; information can be primary or secondary.  A Source provides Information that offers Evidence for your research.  The information presented here is intended to help you distinguish between these different types of resources so that you can confidently conduct the necessary research.


One such resource is this handout, which has a comparison chart for Source types (e.g. Popular, Trade, & Scholarly sources), types of Information (e.g. Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary), and types of Evidence (e.g. Positive, Negative, & Indirect).   Use the section/s necessary for your assignment.

Primary Sources Tutorial

Types of Sources

Types of Information