Primary sources are first-hand accounts by participants of a particular event or historical time period. Secondary sources are books and articles written by scholars investigating a research topic using primary sources.
If you were examining racism in the 1911 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica , the article in the encyclopedia on the "Negro" would be a primary source. However, an article in the American Historical Review analyzing racism in the Britannica would be a secondary source . (Richard Marius, A Short Guide to Writing About History , pp. 14-15.)
Some examples of primary sources include:
A Source Book in Theatrical History
Sawyer PN2101 .N3 1959 (on reserve for course)
Extensive compilation of documents from theater history.
To find additional compilations of documents, search FRANCIS by Keyword Subjects theatre and sources.
Actors on Acting
Sawyer PN2061 .C56 (on reserve for course)
Theatre history told through the actor’s point of view. Extensive resources for primary documents from the perspective of the performer’s themselves.
To find other primary documents by specific actors, directors, playwrights, etc., search FRANCIS by Author.
Places of Performance: The Semiotics of Theatre Architecture
Sawyer NA6821 .C36 1989 (on reserve for course)
Provides incredible resource for architecture of theatres and sites of performance, from Greeks to today.
For additional sources on theatre architecture, search FRANCIS by Subject Theater architecture
For images, see How to Find Images guide.