Activity: Sources of Information:

Procedure:

1. Review students’ answers to the question, “Where did you get your information about JFK?” from Step 2.

2. Ask students to identify what sources they think historians consult for information.

3. Define source:

Source (n.) one that supplies information, a firsthand document or primary reference work.

4. Present how historians classify source information:

Historians classify the information they gather into two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary sources: firsthand accounts or actual records that have survived the past. For example: oral histories, interviews, photographs, film, video, artifacts, tools, weapons, inventions, uniforms, tombstones, music, fine art, advertisements, journals, letters, diaries, census data, land surveys, maps, blueprints, architectural drawings, etc.

Secondary sources: secondhand sources are accounts of the past created by people interpreting the event some time after it happened. For example: textbooks, historical essays and books, film or television documentaries, and text labels in a museum.

5. Evaluate the reliability of sources using the questions historians ask:

What type of source is it?
Why was it created?
Who created it?

6. Discuss the types of primary sources used by historians and their strengths and weaknesses when considering reliability.

7. List your sources for information as discussed in Step 2 of this unit. Categorize these sources as primary and secondary.

8. List each source's strengths and weaknesses in terms of accuracy and reliability.