Good or Bad?
Is Facebook a good source of information?
No! Unless you are researching FB as a company, none of the information on their social media site comes from them. You should go to the actual article to check validity.
What are primary sources?
Anything recorded or written in situ, or in the context of a lived event. Diaries, news articles, logs, letters, interviews, photographs... are all primary source material.
Which team won the Big Game last year?
What is a secondary source?
Information written about a particular event, person, or group without first hand knowledge. Secondary accounts are often based on study of primary sources. Introduces a new level of bias.
Tom Thomas, whose criminal record includes breaking and entering,and a possession of marijuana charge, vehemently denied stealing the car. What does the writer think of Tom?
That he's guilty. Why list his criminal record if it isn't relevant to the current crime?
Is Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story a good source?
Not really. While the producers definitely did research for the series, there are too many variables to claim that their portrayal is completely accurate.
Is the Constitution a primary source?
Yes! Written in 1787 and ratified in 1788-9, the Constitution is a primary source for the concerns and hopes of the earliest American leaders.
What's the latest on what killed the dinosaurs?
Probably climate collapse. Updates don't always negate previous knowledge, they might add to it. Meteor strikes may have altered the atmosphere enough to wipe out plant life, or grime up the water, collapsing whole food webs.
Is Diary of a Young Girl a primary or secondary source?
Written by Anne Frank while she was in hiding, then published by her father after the war, Diary of a Young Girl is a primary source, with a few secondary edits and flourishes.
Mrs. Marple, wife of important person Edgar Marple, was seen making an outing today. What do we assume about Mrs. Marple?
That the most important thing about her is her connection to her husband.
Is the Journal of the American Medical Association a good source?
Yes! JAMA is the flagship journal of the AMA, and they provide peer reviewed, evidence based articles on the medical industry. If they get something wrong, they will retract an article.
Can you always trust a Primary source to be true?
Nope! Primary sources are still written by people, and people make mistakes, slight others, and tell lies all the time. You should still check primary sources for accuracy.
Is NPR a good source for latest updates?
Yes. In addition to being a respected news source, NPR is more central than many other networks, and tend to emphasize accuracy over particular party stances.
Which source will give you a better objective understanding? General Grant's letters from the front of the Civil War, or a History Channel documentary on the war?
The documentary. Grant's letters are valuable, but they are not objective. Primary sources rarely are. Time is what provides consensus and objectivity.
"You don't look like you need disability accommodations" What are we assuming?
That people with disabilities are always easy to see and need all kinds of important accommodations.
Is CNN a good source?
For some things, yes. CNN leans politically left as an organization, so it is important to think about what biases they might hold in certain political stories. They are well researched though.
Is Hamilton based on primary sources?
Not really. Hamilton uses and makes reference to some primary American documents, but the play is based on Ron Chernow's biography of the Founding Father, itself a secondary source.
Are we in a recession?
What three things are important to find in a newspaper article you want to use as a source?
writer, publisher, and date. It's a flag if a source doesn't give these to you. Sometimes one missing component is okay, but the credibility of the soruce is damaged if no one wants to claim or date it.
Look up the "Ain't I A Woman?" Speech by Sojourner Truth. What is the problem with Gage's transcription?
She "southernizes" Truth. Truth was enslaved by Dutch New Yorkers, her accent and speaking pattern matched the North. Gage thought Southernizing the speech would be more relatable.
Is Wikipedia a good source?
You shouldn't cite it, but yes! Wikipedia is an aggregate source, and so the older and more fixed our understanding of events and concepts is, the better the Wiki page will be on it. Plus, easily accessed citation lists!
Contextual perspective. Primary sources let us see the mindset of people who experienced a historical event, or were in the room when a decision was made. Without them, we can only guess what people were thinking.
Which is better? Established information, or new ideas?
Depends on the context. Many times, established knowledge builds new ideas. This is a concepts called heuristic knowledge.
What's the biggest problem with secondary sources?
Misinformation. Secondary sources have to be careful to accurately convey information without throwing bias, judgement, or personal gain into the mix.
"Republicans are all racist religious nuts. Democrats are all limp-wristed snowflakes". What's the problem with these two statements?
They assume class, race, religious systems, political parties, and education levels for a lot of people.