Assignment
Recognizing Primary Sources in the Library
In this activity, students learn how to locate and select appropriate primary sources for their assignment using library guides (libguides) and the library databases list. Students then analyze an example primary source to improve their primary sources literacy.
After completing the library instruction session, students will be able to:
• Locate, identify, and select relevant online primary source collections (databases)
• Given a facsimile primary source, identify the location of the original, and the format of the facsimile
• Identify metadata provided with the source
• Locate books and articles that will support analysis and research involving the source
Information Literacy concepts:
Individual or Group:
Ability Level:
We created this activity for a course that is flagged for information literacy in our core curriculum. These courses in our History department tend to have annotated bibliography assignments as well as primary source assignments. First year courses introduce annotated bibliographies and how to produce them, so the information literacy flag here has to address more advanced literacy, in this case primary source literacy.