It seems to me that emphasis is mistakenly being put on the medium and not
the information contained.  I have been consistently taught by different,
highly qualified, professors that a primary source is a piece of first hand
information dating from the event being studied.  This might be a newspaper
article dating from when the event took place, a photograph of the event,
first hand memories of someone who witnessed the event, or first hand
memories of someone was involved in the event.  There are numerous other
examples, but think everyone gets my point here.

First consider a newspaper article.  Let us assume someone is researching
the one of the many memorial services held for President Lincoln as his body
traveled from Washington to Springfield for burial.

There surely would be newspaper articles covering the event, and these would
be considered primary sources.  It would be difficult for the researcher to
find the actual newspaper in its original printed format.  However, the
researcher could probably easily find the article on microfilm.  I think
most any reasonable person would consider this to also be a primary source.
Along as the article stands along and is not used to advance an argument or
position then why would a digital image of the article found on the internet
not also be considered a primary source? (This argument is assuming that the
websites are legitimate websites)  If an accurate transcript is included to
ease reading then this would also be acceptable.

Next consider photographs of the event.  It again would be difficult to find
the original photograph.  I would assume that most would conceder a copy of
the photograph be it on photo paper, microfilm, or an original publication
containing the photograph to be primary sources.  These formats are all
different from the original format so why would an unaltered photo from a
reputable source digitalized and placed on the internet not also be
considered a primary source with the stipulation that the photo stands
alone.

Let us look to the first hand memories of the event.  The first hand
memories of a witness or participate in the event would be considered to be
a primary source.  These could be in the form of diary entries, the spoken
word, or transcripts of the spoken word.  The original diary would probably
not be available for hands on viewing, but a copy or microfilm might be, the
original recording might not be available but a copy of the recording in a
modern audio format might be available.  Again I think any reasonable person
would consider all of these examples, although not in the original format to
also be primary sources.  If one wants to be very picky about a source being
in an original format before it is considered to be a primary source I would
point out that even the original recording of a oral history interview is in
a different format that the original—the spoken word.

The emphasis should be placed on the information provided not the media
unless the media is the object of the research.  For example, if someone is
reaching old photographs then a digital copy would not be of any use.  Again
I stress that the website must be legitimate and the information in the
source must not have been edited or altered.  There must also be sufficient
citations so others can locate the source and conceder the legitimacy of the
website where the source was found.

Just my opinion.

Trent Litchfield
Graduate Student
Murray State University

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