Q. What is the importance of primary vs. secondary sources?

Some projects (both in school and beyond) will require primary sources: historical documents, personal interviews, scientific experiments, works of literature, etc. Others will require secondary sources: an important thinker's take on problem, a round-up of studies done on a topic, an interpretation of a poem, etc. Still others will require both. So it's important to be able to distinguish between these two kinds of sources, whether to meet a professor's expectations (if they tell you to use primary sources, you don't want to not do that) or to figure out which type of source will best help you complete the project at hand.

For more information, take a look at our guide to Different Types of Sources.