Primary sources can include data, artwork, films, manuscript collections, minerals, rare books and much more. Skills related to research using primary resources include the ability to differentiate primary and secondary sources, to draw on primary resources to generate research questions, to situate that resource in its historical context, and to consider the perspective of the creator of that artifact.
Examples:
Students can benefit from the experience of conducting research directly with artwork, films, manuscript collections, minerals, rare books or other objects.
Anyone can learn to harvest data from primary sources; collect born-digital primary sources, like blog posts; and create digital archives of physical collections.
For more information, see the departmental pages below.
- Special Collections and Museums
- Digital Scholarship and Publishing
- Reference and Instructional Services