Transcript Slide 1

Source
Workshop
• WHAT ARE SOURCES?
•Anything used to gain information on a
particular topic of investigation.
• WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF
SOURCES?
•Books, Magazines, Articles, Pictures, Websites,
Movies, etc.
•WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF
SOURCES?
•Primary (First) Sources
•Secondary (Second) Sources
PRIMARY SOURCES
•Contemporary or First Hand Accounts
•Any Document or physical object that was written
or created during the time under study. These
sources were present during an experience or time
period and offer an inside view of a particular
event.
•Examples include: diaries, speeches, letters,
interviews, film footage, pictures, autobiographies,
novels, music, art, artifacts.
SECONDARY SOURCES
•Historical Accounts and Analysis
•A source that interprets and analyzes primary
sources. These sources are one or two steps
removed from an event. Secondary Sources may
have pictures, quotes, or graphics of primary
sources in them.
•Examples include: texbooks, reference materials,
commentaries, biographies, etc.
WHY ARE PRIMARY SOURCES
IMPORTANT?
• Give the most contemporary
unfiltered insight into an event
• Tell us what people felt, saw, heard,
experienced during the time under
investigation
• Raw Materials of historical
investigation
WHY ARE SECONDARY
SOURCES IMPORTANT?
• Present a more polished and developed
view of an event or time period
• Present a broader understanding by
incorporating a variety of both types of
sources.
• Have the benefit of distance and
reflection from the time or event they are
analyzing.
Source Problems
Primary Sources
•Incomplete, biased, out of context,
require a lot of analysis
Secondary Sources
•Bias, second-hand accounts, can be
written long after what they are
discussing, conflict with each other.
USE BOTH PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY SOURCES
USING SOURCES
INTERROGATION:
•Is this source legitimate?
•Is it accurate?
•What is its relationship to other
sources?
•Is it reliable?
•Where did it come from?
USING SOURCES
ANALYSIS:
•What does this source say?
•What is the context of this source?
•What do other sources say about this
source?
•Is the information current or obsolete?
SOURCES
EXERCISE
Primary
Primary
Secondary
Secondary
Secondary
Primary