Reading handwriting from a different time period can often feel like you're reading a different language (even if it is in English.) Below are some links to online websites that will give some useful tips for reading handwritten primary sources. In addition to these links, here are a few conventions to remember:
-writing may go on the edges of the paper to conserve paper
-capitalization may appear to be random, but it's used to emphasis words
-names may also be abbreviated
A peer-reviewed source, commonly called a scholarly article, is a source that appears in a scholarly journal or from a university press. It is called 'peer-reviewed' because before being published it underwent a reviewing process by fellow experts in that topic. These journals, unlike popular magazines or newspapers, are :
-written by accredited experts in the field,
-usually over 10 pages in length,
-contain footnotes/endnotes,
-published annually, quarterly, monthly.
-printed by an academic press
The discipline of history is rooted in sources, and being able to differentiate between primary, secondary and tertiary documents is a key component of history research and writing. This page will provide some useful links and information to aid in document analysis.
A primary source is an original work - it can be diaries, letters, images, recordings, etc. These sources are what provide the data, the words, images or even sounds that you use as evidence to support your arguements. This data can also be artifacts from a time period or person.
*text adapted from Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th edition
Analyzing a primary source is like conducting an investigation - you have to be actively asking questions of it and looking at it through a critical lens. Some questions (of hundreds of possible questions) are:
What is the document type (diary, transcript etc)?
How does this type of document affect its purpose?
Who wrote this document?
Why did the author write this document?
What is the context of the document (what was happening in that period of history)?
In a lot of ways, being a historian is like being a detective. Think of each primary source you read as a character you must thouroughly interview, and your goal is to piece together all the various accounts in order to build and understand the greater story.
A secondary source is a book or article that analyzes the primary sources written by and for other researchers. Generally, secondary sources are used for three main reasons: to keep up with current research, to find and understand alternative points of view, and/or to find models for your own research and analysis.
*text adapted from Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th edition
Just because its in a book doesn't mean it's a fact, and its the job of the researcher to evaluate the reliabliity of secondary sources. To do this, be sure to ask:
-Is the author a reputable scholar?
-Is the source current?
-Is the publisher a university press or a commercial press?
-Was the article/book peer-reviewed?
-Has it received a good book review?
-Does the author properly cite the sources?
These measurements do not garuntee academic reliablity, but can weed out the vast majority of non-reliable secondary sources.
*text adapted from Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th edition
A tertiary source are based on secondary sources and are usually focused on general, background knowledge of a topic. These are usually encyclopedias, dictionaries or could be newspapers or magazines. Be very cautious when examining these sources, especially online encyclopedia's such as Wikipedia. Typically, only visit tertiary sources when you are new to a topic and need to gain a subject overview.
*text adapted from Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th edition