Library Homepage	Primary Sources
FMS Homepage
District Homepage

From Joyce Valenza’s Website
http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/%7Espjvweb/primary.html

What is a primary source?
A primary source is first hand evidence. It was there at the time of an event. It is contemporary to the period being studied. Examples of primary sources are speeches, letters, songs, legislation, court decisions, journals/diaries, interviews, artifacts, autobiographies, and photographs.

More about primary sources:
• Why Study History Through Primary Sources? (Fordham) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html
• How to Read a Primary Source (Bowdoin) http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/
• Library Research Using Primary Sources (Berkeley) http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html• Primary Sources Research (Yale) http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm
• Using Primary Sources on the Web http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA

Some sources for Primary Sources and Learning Strategies:
• American Memory Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
• National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html
• Teaching with Documents
http://www.edteck.com/dbq/
• Learning Page (Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/index.html
• Artifact and Analysis (Smithsonian) http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/idealabs/ap/index.htm