Analysing Sources O – Origin. Where did the source come from? Who did it come from? When did it come from? P – Purpose. What are the ramifications of the origins? In terms of the historical context of the source, what does it mean? V – Value. With the origin and purpose in mind, what value does this source have? (Bias does not make a source worthless!!!) What does it show about the society? What does it show about the type of thinking at that time? L – Limitations. Despite the value, what pitfalls in the origin and purpose cause this source to not be valuable? Is it damaged? Was it mistranslated? Was it “corrupted” since it was altered for a specific audience only? Just try to structure your source analysis with these points in a logical sequence; each one should build on top of previous points.

TIPS: Bias does not make a source worthless. Try to give a balanced discussion of value and limitations (don’t spend a page on value and a sentence on limitations). In regards to origin, make sure you are familiar with the major political cartoons, newspapers, media, etc. of the time era you are studying. It often shows you what kind of perspective this source is coming from. Do not disregard a source because it is “merely” propaganda. Try to develop a purpose which relates to the origins of the source. Keep in mind different historical interpretations of the source. Is the source primary, secondary, etc? A historical artifact and an encyclopedia article are very different.

Example Origin: Internet Source, accessed 2012, a website designed for schools. Purpose: Provide a simple version of historical events in an interesting way for children Value: Objective and based on objective information Limitations: information maybe “over-simplified” and important detail may be lost Example as text: Source B is a diagram representing the ways railways created more jobs. It was taken from a modern website designed for school pupils so it is a secondary source. Its purpose is to educate young people so the information is probably objective and based on reliable sources. It is valuable as it tells us that ………… However, it may be limited in its value as the information has been simplified for younger pupils and important details might be lost