Primary Source Documents

EDPC 605

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Primary sources are original materials.• Primary sources (also called original source or

evidence) are artifacts, documents, recordings, or other sources of information that were created at the time under study. However, primary sources can include memoirs, autobiographies and oral histories recorded later.

• Secondary sources, are sources which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources. Generally, accounts written after the fact are secondary. They interpret and analyze primary sources.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0plq2E9ZjQ

University of Illinois

http://www.library.illinois.edu/village/primarysource/mod1/pg8.htm

Forgeries• In April 1983, the West German

news magazine Stern published excerpts from what purported to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler, known as the Hitler Diaries.

• In 1986, Hugh Trevor-Roper "authenticated" the Hitler diaries, which were later proved to be forgeries.

• Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper (15 January 1914 – 27 January 2003) was an English historian of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany and Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford.

Examples of Primary Sources

• Original Documents – diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records, photographs, maps, postcards, government records, posters.

• Creative Works – poetry, drama, art, novels, music, plays, paintings, drawings, sculptures

• Relics or Artifacts – furniture, clothing, pottery, buildings

Examples of Primary Sources

• The Diary of Anne Frank

http://www.annefrank.org/en/Anne-Frank/

Ken Burns – The Civil War

Ken Burns on PBS – Tell a Story

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/images/

Examples of Secondary Sources

• Publications: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias.

• Biographies• Book, Art and Theatre reviews• Newspaper articles that interpret

RUSA – Reference and User Services Association

http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources

APPARTS - An acronym of prompts for the analysis of primary sources

• AUTHOR Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author’s point of view?

• PLACE AND TIME Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?

• PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Beyond information about the author and the context of its creation, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?

• AUDIENCE For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source?

• REASON Why was this source created at the time it was produced?• THE MAIN IDEA What point is the source trying to convey?• SIGNIFICANCE Why is this source important? What inferences can you draw

from this document? Ask yourself, “So what?” in relation to the question asked.

TACOS – Elementary/Middle

• Time: When was this document created? I always remind them that they are not looking for the setting of the cartoon, rather when do they think the author created it? What clues in the picture can help you figure it out?

• Action: What is going on in the picture? What are people doing/saying?

• Caption: Write down all the words or text that you see in the picture (captions, thought bubbles, labels, etc.)

• Objects: List everything that is visible in the picture. Watch out – the kids can get very specific on this one!

• Summary/So what?: What does this have to do with real life? What does this mean? Why is this important?

TAG• Another Pre-AP strategy is to practice writing thesis statements• It’s called “TAG”. It’s used it to learn how to answer essay or short

answer questions correctly. Each answer must have two sentences!!

• (T)urn the question into a statement• (A)nswer the question• (G)ive more details • Here’s an example: What is a peninsula?• TAGged answer: A peninsula is a landmass nearly surrounded by

water. Greece is an example of a peninsula.• Sometimes we will do TAG3 (Call it TAG cubed). Instead of just

writing one extra detail, they have to write three.

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/

Civil War Photographs – Matthew Brady

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html

The National Archives

http://www.archives.gov/education/research/primary-sources.html

The New York Public Library

http://www.nypl.org/collections

The Internet Public Library

http://www.ipl.org/

History Matters

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

The History Guide

http://aac.sub.uni-goettingen.de/en/history/guide/

Internet Scout

https://scout.wisc.edu/

“Knockout” Papers