primary sources
thur march 27
today’s line-up
primary sources
what are primary sources?
how & why are they collected?
how are they organized?
where & how could I access them?
why would I ever use them?
prep for trip to Wilson Library next Thursday
Data to Story project work time
Pop Quiz
• Which digital collection(s) did you explore?
• Think about material in that collection…what
sort of research questions/inquiries would the
collection support? In other words, who
would use this collection for research?
• Describe one difference between an “archive”
and a “library”
primary sources
primary sources
primary sources
primary sources
provide first-hand testimony or direct
evidence concerning a topic under
investigation
created by witnesses or recorders who
experienced the events or conditions
being documented
often these sources are created at the
time when the events or conditions are
occurring…but could be recorded later
primary sources
autobiographies
diaries & journals
memoires
legal and financial documents
oral histories
photographs
business correspondence
maps
personal correspondence
architectural drawings
computer tape
objects
video & audio recordings
government regulations and
treaties
hearings & debates of legislative
bodies; court cases
census data
records of government
expenditures & finances
regalia / artifacts (e.g. war
memorabilia)
scientific data
music (e.g. music scores, musical
instruments, sound recordings)
visual materials (e.g. original art,
graphic art)
dissertations
manuscript and archival materials are unique resources that
can be found in only one library or institution (though digital
copies or copies on microfilm/microfiche may be available
elsewhere)
archives
the records made or
received and maintained by
an institution or
organization in pursuance of
its legal obligations or in the
transaction of its business
manuscripts
a body of papers of an
individual or a family
how & why are primary sources collected?
required by law – usually “records”
Birth/death certificates; marriage license
company / organization policy
Personnel files; incorporation docs
historical societies
Photos; military garb
religious groups
Membership; sermons; pamphlets
for profit
Ancestry.com
intentional collecting – e.g. research, endowment or grant
North Carolina Collection (UNC)
family
Birth certificates; medical records; photos; scrapbooks; journals
archives: what do they keep?
• records which are no longer required for
current use but have been selected for
permanent preservation because of their
evidential or informational value.
ARCHIVES
What do they Inactive records
keep?
that have been
selected for
permanent
preservation
usually
unpublished (can
be in any format
and unique)
LIBRARIES
Published
materials (can
be in many
formats) that is
not unique
How is the
material
arranged?
According to a Arrangement is
pre-determined not significant,
classification
control is.
system (LC,
DDC)
In the order
determined and
used by the
creator(s)
MUSEUMS
Objects and
artifacts (and
associated
documentation)
which may or
may not be
unique
What is their
objective?
Who can
consult the
material?
ARCHIVES
Protection of
archives and their
evidential and
informational
values
LIBRARIES
Building
appropriate and
comprehensive
collections that
are properly
housed and
effectively used
MUSEUMS
Collection and
protection of
selected objects
for the
community
Depends on
Any member of Any member of
archives policy
community
the public
and conditions
imposed by donor
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a state agency,
and its offices and departments are obligated to follow the
requirements of the North Carolina Public Records Law (North
Carolina General Statute 132) for retention and disposition of
records.
http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/
how are they organized?
• depends…
• “Finding Aid” - description of an archival
collection, usually containing a history of the
person or organization that produced the
collection and an inventory of its contents
• EAD Encoded Archival Description
– XML standard used to encode data about archival
materials
– makes things easier to find in an electronic
environment
appraisal
def: process of evaluating records to determine
their value and ultimate disposition
– physical volume
– frequency of use
– administrative and operational need served by the
record
– legal and fiscal regulations governing retention
– historical significance
– economic advantage of moving the records from high
cost office storage to low cost records storage space
or direct disposal
– whether this is the record copy or a duplicate
where & how to access
• think about who might have relevant
records/material
– government entity (international, national, state, county)
– professional organization/society (e.g. state geological
society)
– dedicated entity (special collection – e.g. TWU’s WASP
collection)
• ask librarian
why would I ever use an archive?
• legislation (statutes, regulations, and ordersin-council) and case law (decisions of courts
and administrative tribunals)
• genealogy / family tree
• Popular culture / period pieces
December 1963: Members of several civil rights organizations staged this holiday march,
carrying letters addressed to political leaders to urge anti-discrimination legislation. They
requested that fellow Chapel Hill citizens follow suit to "Send Freedom Letters for Christmas."
Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.,”
30 May-1 June 1941
Internet Archive + The Wayback Machine
https://archive.org
Archivists normatively position themselves as
impartial and honest brokering custodians of the
past, immune from the pressures and persuasions
that conflict the rest of contemporary society.
Consider the politics of record-making and record
keeping and how they shape and often mis-shape
the construction of the past and present.
Action or inaction
Wallace, D.A. (2011). Memory ethics – or the presence of
the past in the present. Archival Science, 11, 1-12.
Our field trip to Wilson next Thursday
Wilson Library
North Carolina Collection
Rare Book Collection
Southern Folklife Collection
Southern Historical Collection
University Archives
Federal Writers’ Project Papers
 Southern Historical Collection
http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/shc
 Online finding aids
 Federal Writers’ Project