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Introduction to Primary Sources Definitions and Examples.

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1 Introduction to Primary Sources Definitions and Examples

2 Secondary Sources  Accounts written after the fact by scholars. Interpretations of history based on an analysis of primary sources.  Formats:  Books  Journal articles  Dissertations  Conference reports

3 Primary Sources: Definitions  “is material -- a document or other evidence -- that was created during the period or the event”  “historical raw materials”  “the leavings, the shards, the remnants of people who once lived and don't live anymore”

4 Historians & Primary Sources  Primary sources are the evidence used by historians in their analysis/interpretation of the past.  Good history books and scholarly journal articles (secondary sources) carefully cite the evidence in footnotes.  Primary sources help us make personal connections with the past.

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8 Written primary sources  Public/published Newspapers Magazines Books  Written during time  Written later by participants (memoirs) Government reports

9 Written primary sources  Private Letters Diaries  Can later be published in book, microfilm, web formats  Unpublished material found in manuscript archives

10 Unwritten primary sources  Graphics photographs posters art maps  Artifacts buildings furniture Coins clothing tombstones

11 Analysis of primary sources  Time and Place Rule The closer in time and place a source and its creator are to an event, the better the source  Direct traces  contemporary accounts by firsthand observers/participants  accounts of the events created later by first hand observers/participants  Congressional debate  newspaper accounts of the debate/diary entries by participants/letters of observers  memoirs of participants published years later

12 Analysis of primary sources  Bias Rule Every source is biased in some way  Evidence must be read or viewed skeptically and critically  Creator’s point of view and motives must be considered  Each piece of evidence must be compared with other evidence

13 Primary Sources in the UW Libraries Books, magazines and microfilm

14 Formats in the UW Libraries  Books Published primary sources Books published during the time  Magazines, Journals and Newspapers  Microfilm Copies of published books Runs of old newspapers and magazines Collections of unpublished material (manuscripts)

15 Finding Books  Search for books written by key people  Search for books published during the time period  Keyword search for books that include the special subject headings: sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, registers, interviews  Women and employment and interviews  african americans and personal narratives  immigrants and (diaries or correspondence) and united

16 Finding Articles  Use fulltext databases (if available) American Periodical Series Online Historical New York Times  Use indexes (if available) 19 th Century Masterfile Reader’s Guide Retrospective  Follow footnotes in secondary sources  If looking for primary sources on an event, browse newspapers for that time period

17 Microfilm Sets  Collections of published materials History of Women Early English Books  Collections of manuscript material Records of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, 1895-1992 D.W. Griffith Papers, 1897-1954 The Will Hays Papers, 1879-1954 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service pt. 1. Asian immigration and exclusion, 1906-1913

18 Language Over Time  Important to realize changes in words over time when using historical indexes. Negro – Afro-Americans – Blacks – African Americans Moving Pictures – Motion Pictures – Film Belgian Congo – Zaire – Democratic Republic of the Congo European War – World War – World War I


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