How would a scanned copy of something that is then placed on a web site be considered differently than microfilm or microfiche?  It would need to be evaluated as to the trustworthiness of the web site but bogus documents can be microfilmed, too. In many cases web sites are used as exhibits - if you argue that web sites are secondary sources then so are museum exhibits because they have been edited, too.  I'm sure that we all know that archives, too, are edited. Somewhere along the line someone makes the decision as to what survives.  It's beginning to feel like we are dealing with secondary sources all around if we start splitting this hair.


>>> [log in to unmask] 09/11/03 07:28PM >>>
I will be interested to see other opinions on this question. This seems
to me an example that could be considered use of primary sources and
just as easily be argued it is use of a publication(the web site) which
quotes a primary source and used photographs to illustrate the
information just the way a book or magazine would do.
This may be a new hybrid source of information and how you would cite it
depends on the reputation of the web site's authors.
Do you have to have the actual item in your hands for it to be
considered a primary source?
Look forward to more opinions on this.
Chris Taylor
Atchison County (Kansas) Historical Society

PHS Curator wrote:

>This is a question my education coordinator asked that I pose to the group:
>
>With more and more documents/photographs/images of objects from a museum
>collection posted to the web, students have begun to cite them as primary
>sources in their research.  For example, a student may use a letter written
>by an historic person and found on a web-site - an image of the letter is
>there as well as a full transcription.  Since it is only a digital copy and
>not the original, would it still be considered a primary source?  What if
>only a transcription was provided, and not the image?   If you have some
>insight into this, or just a good opinion, please respond to Brian Banton at
>[log in to unmask]  Thanks!
>
>Kate Higgins
>Curator
>Pejepscot Historical Society
>159 Park Row
>Brunswick, ME 04011
>207-729-6606
>207-729-6012 (fax)
>
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