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46-803: Students and scholars from around the globe use these collections for research. In one recent year, researchers traveled from 45 states and 12 countries. The AHC also sponsors a wide range of scholarly and popular programs including lectures, symposia, and exhibits. Housed in the Centennial Complex on the campus’ east side, access to the AHC is free and open to all. Established in 1945, the AHC holds more than 90,000 cubic feet (roughly 17 miles of cubic-foot increments) of collection material as of 2020 and over 50,000 rare books. The Center annually receives between six and seven thousand researchers and provides fellowships and travel grants for research. It administers

92-410: A biography of a historian, that historian's publications would be primary sources. Documentary films can be considered a secondary source or primary source, depending on how much the filmmaker modifies the original sources. The Lafayette College Library provides a synopsis of primary sources in several areas of study: The definition of a primary source varies depending upon the academic discipline and

138-419: A broader sense primary sources also include artifacts like photographs, newsreels, coins, paintings or buildings created at the time. Historians may also take archaeological artifacts and oral reports and interviews into consideration. Written sources may be divided into three types. In historiography, when the study of history is subject to historical scrutiny, a secondary source becomes a primary source. For

184-453: A certain topic. Whether a source is regarded as primary or secondary in a given context may change, depending upon the present state of knowledge within the field. For example, if a document refers to the contents of a previous but undiscovered letter, that document may be considered "primary", since it is the closest known thing to an original source; but if the letter is later found, it may then be considered "secondary" In some instances,

230-411: A court case may be truthful but may still be distorted to support or oppose the position of one of the parties. Many sources can be considered either primary or secondary, depending on the context in which they are examined. Moreover, the distinction between primary and secondary sources is subjective and contextual, so that precise definitions are difficult to make. A book review, when it contains

276-462: A historical theme. It is chosen for its broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or the recent past. Themes are rotated each year and prior themes can be used after approximately twelve years. For example, the 2023 theme was "Turning Points in History." Projects are judged in part on their connection to the annual theme. as of 2024 the theme for NHD

322-552: A local program in Cleveland, Ohio , headed by Dr. David Van Tassel, a history professor at Case Western Reserve University . It grew from 129 students in 1974 to over 500,000 students in 48 states in 1991, and 700,000 students and 40,000 teachers in 2001. Today, more than half a million students enter through local contests. They construct entries as an individual or a group in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit board, paper, performance, or website. Students then compete in

368-444: A narrative that may not be accurate. For any source, primary or secondary, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the amount and direction of bias. As an example, a government report may be an accurate and unbiased description of events, but it may be censored or altered for propaganda or cover-up purposes. The facts can be distorted to present the opposing sides in a negative light. Barristers are taught that evidence in

414-415: A person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a document written by such a person. Primary sources are distinguished from secondary sources , which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources. Generally, accounts written after the fact with the benefit of hindsight are secondary. A secondary source may also be a primary source depending on how it is used. For example, a memoir would be considered

460-445: A primary source in research concerning its author or about their friends characterized within it, but the same memoir would be a secondary source if it were used to examine the culture in which its author lived. "Primary" and "secondary" should be understood as relative terms, with sources categorized according to specific historical contexts and what is being studied. In scholarly writing, an important objective of classifying sources

506-471: A primary source is not necessarily more of an authority or better than a secondary source. There can be bias and tacit unconscious views that twist historical information. Original material may be... prejudiced, or at least not exactly what it claims to be. The errors may be corrected in secondary sources, which are often subjected to peer review , can be well documented, and are often written by historians working in institutions where methodological accuracy

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552-656: A series of regional contests with top three entries advancing to affiliate, then state contests. At state contests, the top two entries in each category and division are invited to compete at the National History Day contest. State winners then go to Maryland for a final competition, held in June for a prize of money. National History Day started in Cleveland, Ohio in 1974. Members of the History Department at Case Western Reserve University developed

598-544: A summary of a book or letter has survived. Potential difficulties with primary sources have the result that history is usually taught in schools using secondary sources. Historians studying the modern period with the intention of publishing an academic article prefer to go back to available primary sources and to seek new (in other words, forgotten or lost) ones. Primary sources, whether accurate or not, offer new input into historical questions and most modern history revolves around heavy use of archives and special collections for

644-618: A teaching and research grant program to fund University of Wyoming faculty who wish to develop new courses based on primary sources in the AHC. The Center has an active outreach program to reach undergraduates and students in grades 6-12, organizing and hosting the Wyoming History Day program, which is tied to the National History Day . The Toppan Library at the American Heritage Center holds

690-476: Is Rights & Responsibilities in History Students, either individually or as a group, can submit a project from one of the following categories: paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or website. After reviewing the year's theme, the submission handbook, and choosing a topic, the student(s) should gather primary and secondary sources about their research. All sources need to be clearly cited in

736-412: Is an artifact , document , diary , manuscript , autobiography , recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic. Similar definitions can be used in library science and other areas of scholarship, although different fields have somewhat different definitions. In journalism , a primary source can be

782-437: Is based on primary sources, as evaluated by the community of scholars, who report their findings in books, articles, and papers. Arthur Marwick says "Primary sources are absolutely fundamental to history." Ideally, a historian will use all available primary sources that were created by the people involved at the time being studied. In practice, some sources have been destroyed, while others are not available for research. Perhaps

828-453: Is called diplomatics . For centuries, popes used the forged Donation of Constantine to bolster the Papacy's secular power. Among the earliest forgeries are false Anglo-Saxon charters , a number of 11th- and 12th-century forgeries produced by monasteries and abbeys to support a claim to land where the original document had been lost or never existed. One particularly unusual forgery of

874-501: Is difficult to credit any single program with student success, there are clear and consistent indications that academic performance improves with successive years of NHD participation." Arnita Jones, executive director of the American Historical Association , wrote in 2001: Primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source )

920-645: Is important to the future of the author's career and reputation. Historians consider the accuracy and objectivity of the primary sources that they are using and historians subject both primary and secondary sources to a high level of scrutiny. A primary source such as a journal entry (or the online version, a blog), at best, may only reflect one individual's opinion on events, which may or may not be truthful, accurate, or complete. Participants and eyewitnesses may misunderstand events or distort their reports, deliberately or not, to enhance their own image or importance. Such effects can increase over time, as people create

966-459: Is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources." In addition, primary sources avoid the problem inherent in secondary sources in which each new author may distort and put a new spin on the findings of prior cited authors. A history, whose author draws conclusions from other than primary sources or secondary sources actually based on primary sources, is by definition fiction and not history at all. However,

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1012-437: Is passed from one author to another. In scientific literature , a primary source, or the "primary literature", is the original publication of a scientist's new data, results, and theories. In political history , primary sources are documents such as official reports, speeches, pamphlets, posters, or letters by participants, official election returns, and eyewitness accounts. In the history of ideas or intellectual history ,

1058-436: Is to determine their independence and reliability. In contexts such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources and that "if none are available, it is only with great caution that [the author] may proceed to make use of secondary sources." Sreedharan believes that primary sources have the most direct connection to the past and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through

1104-646: The World Digital Library and Flickr Commons have items from all over the world. Trove has primary sources from Australia. Most primary source materials are not digitized and may only be represented online with a record or finding aid . Both digitized and not digitized materials can be found through catalogs such as WorldCat , the Library of Congress catalog , the National Archives catalog , and so on. History as an academic discipline

1150-467: The University's rare book collection. The collection documents the history of the book, from medieval manuscripts to modern printed books. Along with the University of Wyoming Art Museum, the AHC is located in the Centennial Complex. Named for the University of Wyoming’s centennial anniversary (1986) and designed by internationally acclaimed architect Antoine Predock , the Centennial Complex opened to

1196-510: The annotated bibliography that is required for all projects. Additionally, a title page and a process paper must be submitted with each project. The process paper should include how the project's topic was chosen, how the research was conducted, how the actual project was created, the historical significance of the research, and the historical argument made in the project. National History Day projects are judged using an evaluation form with two categories: Historical Quality (accounting for 80% of

1242-469: The available documents relate to England and Wales. Some digital copies of primary sources are available from the National Archives of Scotland . Many County Record Offices collections are included in Access to Archives, while others have their own online catalogs. Many County Record Offices will supply digital copies of documents. In other regions, Europeana has digitized materials from across Europe while

1288-450: The competition's impact on participating students. Funded by the National History Day organization and an independent funder, the study focused on students from New Jersey, Texas, South Carolina, and Colorado, examining both students who participated in the contest and those who did not. Findings indicated that participating students were more likely to outperform the non-participating students scholastically; researchers noted that "Although it

1334-426: The context in which it is used. Although many primary sources remain in private hands, others are located in archives , libraries , museums , historical societies , and special collections . These can be public or private. Some are affiliated with universities and colleges, while others are government entities. Materials relating to one area might be located in many different institutions. These can be distant from

1380-570: The digitized primary source collections of many libraries, archives, and museums. The Internet Archive also has primary source materials in many formats. In the UK, the National Archives provides a consolidated search of its own catalog and a wide variety of other archives listed on the Access to Archives index. Digital copies of various classes of documents at the National Archives (including wills) are available from DocumentsOnline. Most of

1426-469: The filter of secondary sources. In scholarly writing, the objective of classifying sources is to determine the independence and reliability of sources. Though the terms primary source and secondary source originated in historiography as a way to trace the history of historical ideas, they have been applied to many other fields. For example, these ideas may be used to trace the history of scientific theories, literary elements, and other information that

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1472-409: The final judging. The awards for first, second, and third place at the national level are $ 1000, $ 500, and $ 250, respectively. "Outstanding Entry" awards are also given to two projects from each state: one junior entry and one senior entry. There are also more than a dozen special prizes awarded worth between $ 250 and $ 10,000. In 2011 several researchers from Rockman et al published a study examining

1518-677: The help of the National Endowment for the Humanities , National History Day had grown into a national non-profit organization. In 1992 National History Day moved its headquarters from Cleveland to College Park, Maryland in the Washington, D.C., area . National History Day now runs multiple educational programs but the National Contest is still the largest of these. The annual theme frames students’ research within

1564-482: The initial idea for a history contest akin to a Science Fair . In 1978, they incorporated the project and hired Lois Scharf as executive director. She worked to raise grant funds and recruit state historical organizations to join the program. She served until 1992. Students gathered on campus to devote one day to history calling it "National History Day." Over the next few years, the contest expanded throughout Ohio and into surrounding Midwestern states. By 1980, with

1610-456: The judges for the first time at the presentation. The top 2 entries in the senior, and junior division advance to the national contest. Judges in each room advance one entry to the final round of judging. Each room reviews approximately 9-10 entries. Competitors that have advanced to the final round have their projects judged by a panel of three new judges, but the students are not interviewed in this round. Their project then has to stand alone for

1656-501: The main primary sources are books, essays, and letters written by intellectuals; these intellectuals may include historians, whose books and essays are therefore considered primary sources for the intellectual historian, though they are secondary sources in their own topical fields. In religious history , the primary sources are religious texts and descriptions of religious ceremonies and rituals . A study of cultural history could include fictional sources such as novels or plays. In

1702-434: The only eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs , autobiographies, or oral interviews that were taken years later. Sometimes the only evidence relating to an event or person in the distant past was written or copied decades or centuries later. Manuscripts that are sources for classical texts can be copies of documents or fragments of copies of documents. This is a common problem in classical studies , where sometimes only

1748-419: The opinion of the reviewer about the book rather than a summary of the book, becomes a primary source. If a historical text discusses old documents to derive a new historical conclusion, it is considered to be a primary source for the new conclusion. Examples in which a source can be both primary and secondary include an obituary or a survey of several volumes of a journal counting the frequency of articles on

1794-839: The original source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in California houses many documents from the United Kingdom. In the US, digital copies of primary sources can be retrieved from a number of places. The Library of Congress maintains several digital collections where they can be retrieved. Some examples are American Memory and Chronicling America . The National Archives and Records Administration also has digital collections in Digital Vaults . The Digital Public Library of America searches across

1840-460: The public in 1993. National History Day National History Day is a competition that educates young children in College Park, Maryland that operates an annual project-based contest for students in grades 6-12. It has affiliates in all fifty states, Washington, D.C. , Puerto Rico , Guam , American Samoa , South Korea , China , South Asia , and Central America . It started as

1886-498: The purpose of finding useful primary sources. A work on history is not likely to be taken seriously as a scholarship if it only cites secondary sources, as it does not indicate that original research has been done. However, primary sources – particularly those from before the 20th century – may have hidden challenges. "Primary sources, in fact, are usually fragmentary, ambiguous, and very difficult to analyze and interpret." Obsolete meanings of familiar words and social context are among

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1932-559: The reason for identifying a text as the "primary source" may devolve from the fact that no copy of the original source material exists, or that it is the oldest extant source for the information cited. Historians must occasionally contend with forged documents that purport to be primary sources. These forgeries have usually been constructed with a fraudulent purpose, such as promulgating legal rights, supporting false pedigrees, or promoting particular interpretations of historic events. The investigation of documents to determine their authenticity

1978-530: The score) and Clarity of Presentation (20% of the score). The Historical Quality category includes judging based on the strength historical arguments, research, quality of primary sources, historical accuracy, multiple perspectives, and relevant connections to the historical context. In some regions, students who reach enough points in their judging advance to state competitions, and any number of students at regional competitions can advance to states. In other states, such as California, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania,

2024-400: The top three projects at the regional competition advance to the state competition. Regions can be divided by geographic area, population, or by county. At the affiliate, then state level contests, students compete for a variety of prizes. Some states may have additional categories which do not proceed to nationals, such as California which has a Podcast category. At state level competitions,

2070-474: The top two entries in each category and division are invited to the National Contest, held each June at the University of Maryland, College Park . In the preliminary rounds, each entry presents its project before a panel of three judges. In the case of the paper and website categories, the projects are reviewed by the judges before the presentations, while performances, documentaries, and exhibits are seen by

2116-416: The traps that await the newcomer to historical studies. For this reason, the interpretation of primary texts is typically taught as part of an advanced college or postgraduate history course, although advanced self-study or informal training is also possible. In many fields and contexts, such as historical writing, it is almost always advisable to use primary sources if possible, and "if none are available, it

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