In Search of Primary Source Literacy: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The increasing emphasis on primary source research is causing cultural heritage professionals to look at how to assess the effectiveness of their teaching.² The need to evaluate teaching has in turn caused some to wonder what it is exactly that we hope to assess. The term “primary sources” can itself be defined in a variety of ways. In this paper, primary sources “provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation.”³ They include rare books, photographs, diaries, personal papers, and a wide variety of other material types. There have also been proposed a range of definitions attempting to . . .