MODULE 2

USING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Identify different source used in studying history.

2. Compare primary and secondary sources.
3. Evaluate the validity and utility of the use of multisource; primary and
secondary sources.

Introduction

This module aims to introduce the different sources used in studying history.
Topics such as historical sources and historical criticisms will be discussed. These
topics are important in understanding history and will be used on the succeeding
courses in RIPH. This will help you develop the discipline in evaluating the validity of the
sources that you are using not only in this subject but also in other courses, especially,
nowadays wherein there is a proliferation of fake news/articles. Links of different
sources such as videos and reading materials are provided. Activities and assignment
are also included in this module to assess your learning. You are expected to answer
and submit all the requirements provided to pass this module.

Lesson 1 – HISTORICAL SOURCES

“It (history) is a continuous process of interaction between the

historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the
present and the past.” (E.H. Carr)

You have learned from the previous lesson that history is the written record of the
past. Historians use different sources to write about these past events. A historical
writing must be based from credible historical sources, or else, this is just a mere
opinion of the writer. So, what is a historical source?
A historical source is anything that contain important historical information.
These sources give us the most basic information that could be used in studying history.
It is also known as historical material or data. Historians depend on these sources in
creating their own depiction and/or interpretation of the past.

Historical sources could be divided into two classifications, primary sources and
secondary sources.
Primary Sources are evidences left by a person (or group of persons) who witnessed
or participated in the events under examination or someone who provided a
contemporary expression of values or ideas of the period being studied. These sources
are first-hand evidences.
A primary source could be written or non-written. Examples of written primary
sources are newspapers, books, letters, diaries, minutes of meetings, autobiographies,
or government documents written about the event at that time. While non-written
sources include photos, tools, interviews, films, recordings of music and speeches,
clothing, kitchen wares, bridges or buildings from the period being studied.

Secondary Sources are narratives written or made by people who were not present or
involved in the events under examination. These sources were written or done after the
events/ideas they describe. These kinds of sources are based upon primary sources
and/or other secondary sources. It interprets and analyzes primary sources. 

Examples are textbooks, printed materials such as serials and periodicals, and
websites. Secondary sources may contain graphics, video clips, quotes and/or pictures
of primary sources.
Sometimes, a primary source can become a secondary source or vice versa. It
depends on how the source is being used.

For example, if you are studying the life of Jose Rizal and using 1961 articles
about his life and works, the articles are secondary. On the other hand, if you are
researching on the centenary celebration of Rizal’s birthday, the articles become
primary sources.

Lesson 2 – HISTORICAL CRITICISM

“The historian without his fact is rootless and futile; the facts without their
historian are dead and meaningless” (E.H. Carr)
Historical sources are needed by historians, without which, his works will be just
an opinionated, baseless article. But, not all things from the past could be used as
sources. Historians have to verify sources, to date them, locate their place of origin and
identify their intended functions.
In order for a source to be used as evidence in history, there are things that must
be settled first. A source must be authentic and credible. Historians use Historical
Method, the historian’s handicraft, i.e. the techniques historians apply in collecting,
evaluating, validating and interpreting historical evidence to gain knowledge of the past.
To test if a source is worth using as an evidence, it must be subjected to historical
criticism, externally and internally.
Historical Criticism
External Criticism determines authenticity of the source. It establishes the
consistency of the source with known and accepted facts. Through external criticism,
you can determine and trace back the provenance of the source. It is the evaluation of
the form of the document. It is use to spot fabricated, forged, and/or faked documents.
How to Test the Authenticity of a Source
1. Determine the date of publication/creation of the document to see whether
they are anachronous (example, type writers do not exist before 1700s)
2. Determine the author (hand writing, signature, seal)
3. Anachronistic style (punctuation, idiom, ortography)
4. Determine the provenance of the document
5. Semantics - determining of the meaning of the word
Internal Criticism – establishes the credibility of the source. It tries to establish
the meaning which the author wants to convey. It tries to establish the accuracy of the
source. It tests the source’s verisimilarity, as close as what really happened from a
critical examination of best available sources.
How to test the credibility of a Source
1. Identification of the author (determine his reliability; mental processes,
personal attitudes)
2. Determination of the approximate date
3. Ability to tell the truth (nearness to the, competence of witness, degree of
attention)
4. Willingness to tell the truth (determine if the author consciously or
unconsciously tells falsehoods)
5. Corroboration (historical information or facts which rest upon the other reliable
evidences and witnesses)

Lesson 3 – REPOSITORIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources are very important in writing our history. It must be kept in a
secured place and be available for those who would like to study history. Unfortunately,
many of the primary sources of Philippine history where kept in different museums and
library in other countries especially those who colonized the Philippines; Spain, Britain,
America, and Japan.
In the Philippines, there are repositories of important primary sources. The
following are the list of libraries and museums with great Filipiniana collections:

National Archives of the Philippines

National Library of the Philippines
National Historical Commission of the Philippines
Library of Congress
University of the Philippines Main Library
Ateneo de Manila University Library
De La Salle University Library
 University of Santo Tomas Library
Lopez Memorial Museum
Ayala Museum

To ease the historical research endeavors, the National Quincentennial

Committee launched the National Memory Project Philippines on August 13, 2020.
This is in solidarity with the 133 rd founding anniversary of the country’s repository of
Filipino intellectual heritage, The National Library of the Philippines. With this project,
history researchers, both professional and non-professionals, will be aware of the
historical sources found in various libraries and museums of the country. This project
will democratize knowledge which will let Filipino society enjoy the richness of its
national and local history.
NQC announces that the National Historical Commission of the Philippines is
sharing to the public the titles in Serafin D. Quiason Resource Center (also known as
Historical Data Bank) as the corpus of the NMPP. This is in line with its objective in
democratizing the historical sources. The following are the on-going/planned activities
by the NHCP in line with this project:
 Gradual uploading of the catalogs of its twenty-seven history museums
across the country, mostly items associated with our national heroes and
other illustrious personages.
 Uploading of rare photos, audio, audio-visual, and other ephemera of
NHCP
 Inclusion of catalogs of other local studies centers, research institutions,
and museums across the country that are affiliated with Local Historical
Committee Network

In the meantime, the National Memory Project Philippines operates as an online

public access catalog similar to the other libraries with great Filipiniana collections. You
can visit the NMPP on this link: https://nqc.gov.ph/en/memory-project/.

You can also find primary sources in different local museums and libraries,
historical shrines, and personal collections.

Nowadays, students are using the internet in searching for sources for their
assignments, research papers and others. It is a very valuable tool and an important
source of both primary and secondary sources. But there are websites that are biased,
partisan and misusing unreliable information found in the internet which mislead the
students or anyone who reads it without evaluating that information. You must be ready
to think critically to avoid becoming a victim of these kind of websites. We can consider
checking the following criteria set by the University of Colorado in choosing website for
historical searches:
1. Author
2. Bias
3. Citations
4. Dates
5. Reviews
 For further explanation, please click this link:
https://clas.ucdenver.edu/nhdc/student-teacher-resources/research/evaluating-internet-
sources
In addition, you may read “How to identify and find Primary Documents from the
Internet” by California State University by clicking this link:
https://csulb.libguides.com/primaryhist/identification

Activity:

1. Watch the following:

Historical sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTOF6vAqOls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvmin4VK3m4
Historical criticisms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2_IyVbGE2Q
2. Link to read:
Evaluating sources https://guides.library.jhu.edu/evaluate

Assessment

Direction:

Your history teacher asks you to make a power point presentation about the
history of your barangay. Make a checklist of the different sources that you may use to
be able to make a good presentation. Use the following format:

Reflection

Direction:

Answer the following question.

Why is it important to use reliable sources?

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Assignment

Read the excerpts from Santiago Alvarez’ Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a
General, (pp. 82-88) and Teodoro Agoncillo’s History of the Filipino People, (pp. 184-
187) about the Tejeros Convention. Make a comparative matrix of the two sources. Use
the following table below.

Historical
event:

Primary Source Secondary Source

Historical
source:
Author:

Date of the
event:
Objective of
the event

Persons
involved:
 Main
argument:

Bias:

Advantages:

Disadvantages
:

References

Carr, E.H. (1961). What is History?. Penquin Books Ltd.

Cuadra, J. F. (2017, May 8–26). Mga Babasahin Hinggil sa Kasysayan ng Pilipinas.

CHED Philippines. (2020, July 24). Readings in Philippine History Syllabus.

https://ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Readings-in-Philippine-History.pdf

CHED Faculty Training for the Teaching of the New General Education (GE) Core
Courses: Second Generation Training, Lyceum of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines.

CSU Library. (2020, July 24). Finding Primary Sources for History Research
https://csulb.libguides.com/primaryhist/identification

DePasquale, J. (2017, May 26). Physicists Straight to the Source: A Primary Source
Analysis Guide
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/john-depasquale/2017/Straight-to-the-
Source-A-Primary-Source-Analysis-Guide/

MCLA Free Library. (2020, July 24). Historical Methods & Theory.
https://library.mcla.edu/historiography
National Quincentennial Committee, Republic of the Philippines. On this day 133 years
ago, the National Library of the Philippines was founded by the Spanish colonial
government. [status update] Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?
story_fbid=2697464880573325&id=2169075943412224

Sager, Fritz & Rosser, Christian. (2015). Historical Methods.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281620532_Historical_Methods

Toland, Janet & Yoong, Pak. (2013). Using Historical Methods in Information Systems:
A Primer for Researchers. Australasian Journal of Information Systems. 18.
10.3127/ajis.v18i1.798. Retrieved on July 24, 2020
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279943052_Using_Historical_Methods_in_Inf
ormation_Systems_A_Primer_for_Researchers#pf11
https://csulb.libguides.com/primaryhist/identification

UC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. (2020, July 24). National History Day in
Colorado
https://clas.ucdenver.edu/nhdc/student-teacher-resources/research/primary-vs-
secondary-sources