Primary sources are usually original records created at the time historical events occurred. Sometimes, they are records created after an event in the form of memoirs and oral histories.
Some primary sources are:
- letters and manuscripts
- newspapers, interviews, government documents and speeches
- diaries, journals, and memoirs
- photographs, moving pictures, video recordings, and audio recordings
- objects or
artifacts (ancient roads, buildings, tools, weapons, and clothing)
- works of art
Archives are usually unpublished documents (papers, photos, electronic files) that are organized according to creator (individual, group, company, a government)
Finding sources can be found in databases in person and online, also archivists by calling ahead, scheduling an appointment and requesting things ahead of time.
(Journal articles and books in MSU library catalog, or in databases. Local newspapers' microfilm, repository, archivist, etc.)
Finding aids are sometimes called Inventories or Collection Guides containing:
- title, dates and size
- historical information about creator
- scope and content note
- container lists
The reformation impacted the study of history by completely altering how Historians strive to document, it was also used in religious context. Instead of doing lots of logical guesswork and creating true "stories", like was done before the Reformation, a Historian's goal is to tell the whole truth. A perfect example is the scholar De Thou, who was so passionate that he would mail off his works and writings to scholars all across Europe to have them rectify any falsehoods or add details to increase the intricacy and accuracy of his writings. With the Enlightenment approach to history, it quite the opposite. Details are not what concerns them, in fact, a famous Enlightenment scholar, Voltaire, said that details are "vermin that undermine large works" Enlightenment scholars approach everything with a Pyrrhonist view, meaning they were very skeptical. They also believed that their research should reflect some of their core interests: nature, reason and man, so they would often argue that this way of thinking was far more important to history than mere detail.
Recommended textbook solutions
America's History for the AP Course
8th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self
470 solutions
Ways of the World: A Global History
3rd EditionRobert W. Strayer
232 solutions
America's History for the AP Course
9th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self
961 solutions
World Civilizations: The Global Experience, Since 1200, AP Edition
8th EditionMarc Jason Gilbert, Michael Adas, Peter Stearns, Stuart B. Schwartz
263 solutions
Recommended textbook solutionsU.S. History
1st EditionJohn Lund, Paul S. Vickery, P. Scott Corbett, Todd Pfannestiel, Volker Janssen
567 solutions
Western Civilization
9th EditionJackson J. Spielvogel
651 solutions
Western Heritage Since 1300, AP Edition
12th EditionDonald Kagan, Frank M. Turner, Steven Ozment
490 solutions
America's History for the AP Course
8th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self
470 solutions