LET’S TRY ONE
To study a 1910 bridge opening, a researcher reads a diary written that evening by someone who attended. What kind of source is this for the opening?
A firsthand source.
The diary's writer attended and recorded the event at the time.
Learning steps & teaching tips
Classify a source by how and when it was created while keeping source type separate from accuracy.
- Identify the event being studied.
- Read who made each source and when.
- Separate firsthand evidence, later interpretation and a claim about reliability.
Try it together
Invent a school event. Write one witness note and a later summary using that note; label what each can and cannot show.
Ask whether the creator witnessed the event or interpreted earlier records; either kind still needs checking.