Digital Primary Sources

• Primary sources can be in both digital and analog format.
• Digital primary sources are often surrogates or copies of original materials.
• Not all primary sources are digitized.
• Most original archival materials still have to be accessed at specific locations.

Tips for Evaluating Digital Materials

• Look for websites with a non-biased, balanced approach to presenting sources.
• Try and determine who is responsible for the site.
• The website address or the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may provide a clue.
• Look for the 3-letter domain code of the website address to determine who maintains the site.
• Common domain names include: .edu (college or university site).gov (U.S. government site); .org (organization or association site); .com (commercial site); or .net (personal site).
• Look for credentials, contact addresses, and an "about" link.
• The most reliable websites clearly state the source of original materials.
• Beware of transcriptions when they are not linked to a digitized image of the original source document.