Evaluating Primary Sources and Connecting them to Secondary

History 2HI3E – HI: British World and the First World War
Fall 2012
Research Skills Assignment:
Finding and Evaluating Sources / Connecting Primary and Secondary Sources
This assignment is worth 15% of your final mark.
It is due in class on: 22 October 2012
OBJECTIVES:
• To establish and refine your research question.
• To develop your ability to find and evaluate primary sources found on the Web.
• To demonstrate the skill of finding and using relevant secondary sources to
critically evaluate and contextualize primary sources.
BACKGROUND:
In Part A of the assignment you will define a research topic; the rest of the work you do
in this assignment (across parts B/C/D) should be applied to this research topic, and
should help you refine it. Ideally, this should be the topic for your end of term research
proposal, because this assignment will contribute to your work on that proposal.
To define a topic, you might want to browse topics and documents on the websites, do
some secondary source searches of various topics and see what comes up.
It will take work and time to complete this assignment. Do not expect that you can
move with no bumps from A through D without some rethinking and redefinition
along the way. The assignment you submit on 22 October must be handed in on
time and complete, and last minute, unanticipated problems will NOT be an
acceptable reason for delays.
PART A: Defining a Research Question.
Based on your assigned reading, class discussions, or your pre-existing interests in the
topic area of the course, define an area of research that you want to explore using
primary sources.
Write down your topic in the form of a research question.

Part B: Finding Relevant Secondary Sources
Using the secondary source search skills we have reviewed in class (in library on 24
September):
a) Find one, peer reviewed journal article on your topic from an academic
journal (not a review article or a book review) that McMaster Library owns
(print or online). Provide a citation using Chicago Manual of Style Online
(notes and bibliography system). Do not select an article that is already part
of the course reading.
b) Read the article, not just the abstract. Outline the main argument of the
author (50-100 words). Copying the existing abstract is not acceptable.
c) Look at the references in the article. Select and find one of the sources. You
should try to find another peer-reviewed article.Provide a citation according to
the Chicago Manual of Style Online.
d) Outline the main argument of the author (50-100 words).
In the unlikely event that you cannot find a peer reviewed article as one of the
sources, please contact me.
End this section with a restatement or revision of the research question, as
appropriate. A restatement indicates that you still find the original research question
your best guide, a revision indicates your thinking is changing. There is no “better”
answer here. In some cases, a revision will be better, in others a restatement is
appropriate.
PART C: Websites as sources of primary material
Select two of the websites listed below.
• Peace and War in the 20th Century, http://pw20c.mcmaster.ca/
• Canadian Great War Project, http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/index.asp
• Canadian Letters and Images Website, http://www.canadianletters.ca/
• Library and Archives Canada, Military and Peacekeeping,
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/war-military/index-e.html
• National Archives [UK], Looking for records of the First World War,
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-subject/firstworldwar.htm
• Imperial War Museum, http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search
• National Archives of Australia http://www.naa.gov.au/index.aspx
Analyze two of these websites, using what you determine are the most important
evaluation criteria (at least three) in determining the quality of the documentary and
other material found on them. We will be discussing evaluation criteria during class on
15 October.
The final line of your analysis should indicate whether/how this website is relevant to
your research question. If you find that one of the websites is not so relevant, that is
fine. If none of them seem relevant, please contact me.
At the top of your critique, provide the citations for the two sites you have selected using

proper citation from the Chicago Manual of Style Online.
You may analyze the two sites together, or write separate assessments. Your
assessment of the two sites should run no longer than 500 words (that is, 2 x 250 words
or 1 x 500 words)
End this section with a restatement or revision of the research question, as
appropriate. A restatement indicates that you still find the original research question
your best guide, a revision indicates your thinking is changing. There is no “better”
answer here. In some cases, a revision will be better, in others a restatement is
appropriate.
PART D: Analysis of Primary Source Documents (2 x 300 words)
Select two documents related to your research topic, at least one of which must be from
one of the two websites you analyzed. You may choose two documents from one
website. Make sure you are choosing the primary source documents and not
explanatory text from the website.
Your choices must be directly related to your research question. If there are no
documents on the websites that relate to your research question, contact me and we can
discuss alternatives.
At the top of your analysis, provide the citation for each in proper form.
Analyze each of the documents (300 words for each document). Try to identify the
author, audience, purpose and context of the document (this is where your secondary
sources might come in) and suggest one or more ways that this document could be used
to address your research question. If you make direct references to your secondary
sources, then you should use a proper Chicago Style footnote or endnote to indicate
this. We will be discussing how to engage with primary sources in class on 15 October.
End the assignment with a restatement or revision of the research question, as
appropriate. A restatement indicates that you still find the original research question
your best guide, a revision indicates your thinking is changing. There is no “better”
answer here. In some cases, a revision will be better, in others a restatement is
appropriate.