what is the value of primary sources?

Answer 1

I'd rate their value at somewhere in the neighborhood of weapons-grade plutonium.

Primary sources are contemporary with the event. While they will often show a certain bias depending on the writer (for example, reports of American Civil War battled in newspapers of the time will vary--a report from a New York paper will likely have a different slant than one from Atlanta), a fuller picture can be gained from consulting as many different primary sources as one can. This also can aid the researcher in determining the truth of a matter--generally it's somewhere between extremes. It can also cause the researcher to rethink his or her own evaluations.

Answer 2

If you are speaking of the primary sources one uses in writing a research paper . . . a primary source is one that can be trusted because the facts have already been checked and the information is verifiable. Web sites ending in .edu or .org are primary sources. The value is that the facts garnered from these sources can't be challenged, as they are verified. I hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

Primary Sources are "in the moment" accounts by the people who lived through the event in question. Secondary sources are just what people who lived after the fact thought about them.

Answer 4

It's the first and best source.