primary sourcesthur 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

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

primary sources

archivesthe records made or received and maintained by an institution or organization in pursuance of its legal obligations or in the transaction of its business

manuscriptsa body of papers of an individual or a family

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)

how & why are primary sources collected?

required by law – usually “records”Birth/death certificates; marriage license

company / organization policyPersonnel files; incorporation docs

historical societiesPhotos; military garb

religious groupsMembership; sermons; pamphlets

for profitAncestry.com

intentional collecting – e.g. research, endowment or grantNorth Carolina Collection (UNC)

familyBirth 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 LIBRARIES MUSEUMSWhat do they keep?

Inactive records that have been selected for permanent preservation usually unpublished (can be in any format and unique)

Published materials (can be in many formats) that is not unique

Objects and artifacts (and associated documentation) which may or may not be unique

How is the material arranged?

In the order determined and used by the creator(s)

According to a pre-determined classification system (LC, DDC)

Arrangement is not significant, control is.

ARCHIVES LIBRARIES MUSEUMSWhat is their objective?

Protection of archives and their evidential and informational values

Building appropriate and comprehensive collections that are properly housed and effectively used

Collection and protection of selected objects for the community

Who can consult the material?

Depends on archives policy and conditions imposed by donor

Any member of community

Any member of the public

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

appraisaldef: 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 orders-in-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 Machinehttps://archive.org

Wallace, D.A. (2011). Memory ethics – or the presence of the past in the present. Archival Science, 11, 1-12.

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

Our field trip to Wilson next Thursday

Wils

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Federal Writers’ Project Papers

Southern Historical Collectionhttp://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/shc

Online finding aids Federal Writers’ Project