History is a recording of past events used in a scholarly context. History serves many crucial purposes; not only to educate people about the past, but to provide people a background of how their modern lives and societies came to be. The study of history is not only a collection of information about the past but also the examination of patterns and sequences and how they may help people to be more prepared for events that are still to come. Historians pay close attention to these patterns throughout history, as they reflect aspects of human nature; which can help identify how humanity has evolved over time. The historians also look at the actual cultures and societies; these aspects can help add background to historical events and why they happened the way that they did. There is such a wide range of information about history available. In order to study history, one must decide on a topic or period of time, and then find a way of accessing information on said topic. With regards to the information available, it may be put into two categories: primary sources and secondary sources. A primary source is an original document: something written or recorded by a direct witness of the events being examined. While a secondary source is an examination of a primary source, providing insight that the reader may not have picked up on through the use of only primary source. The proper study of history incorporates the use of both these, but the emphasis is often focused on primary sources as they are considered the most reputable. One other thing to remember is to incorporate many sources, as information tends to vary from source to source. Diversifying the sources helps to compile different information and a conclusion may be drawn from that. Ideally, these conclusions drawn from the successes and errors of the past may be used to prevent errors being repeated in the future. That is why history is not only interesting, but it is also absolutely necessary.