primary sources

Evaluating Primary Source Web Sites: More Info

• Who is responsible for the website? Check for an Author
• • Credentials
    If no background information about the author is given try using Google to search the author's name. You can also check with your library to see if the author has written other books or articles on this topic. If there is no author, attempt to find out information about organization by googling the organization name and checking with your library. Libraries often have directories to various organizations and associations.
  • "About" link
    To find an "about" link or information about the author/organization you may need to find the homepage for the entire site. This may require backtracking a url -- deleting the end of the URL section by section until you find a main page for the site.

  Examples:

  • The Body of Liberties of the Massachusets Collonie in New England, is a transcribed document dated 1641. There is a link to the University of Chicago at the bottom of the page. An additional link to "Home" is provided on the side. This link home leads to the Founders' Constitution site. A link on this homepage, About Founders provides information on the University of Chicago Press publication from which the documents are taken and gives information about the editors of the original printed volumes.

    Image: 1917 photograph of Mrs. David Srery and her four children gathering in a room in a home. Courtesy of Photographs from the Chicago Daily News: 1902-1933.