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Primary Sources Research Guide

This guide gives information about primary sources and how to locate them in the Library Catalog, our databases, and external sites.

What is Primary Source Literacy?

What is "Primary Source Literacy"? 

This kind of literacy is "a foundational skill that allows students to critically analyze first-hand accounts from specific time periods and contexts" (Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 'Keeping Up With'...webpage, Feb. 16, 2024).

Primary sources connect students with artifacts from the present and the past, giving them insight into lives lived.  This insight requires literacy skills to read and interpret what has been written about and saved from the past.
 
These skills include the abilities to:
  • Conceptualize
  • Find and Access
  • Understand and Summarize
  • Interpret, Analyze, and Evaluate
  • Use and Incorporate
 
The ACRL recommends using the "Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy" along with the "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" guidelines to inform the teaching of primary source literacy.