Historical Source Analysis - Key Terms & Concepts

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Origin of a Source

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Who created the source as well as where and when it was produced.

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Primary Source

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Objects and documents created or written during the time being investigated (e.g. artefacts; official documents such as treaties; personal documents such as diaries, photographs and film).

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Secondary Source

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Accounts created after the time being investigated which refer to primary sources and present an interpretation (e.g. writings of historians, encyclopaedias, documentaries, textbooks and websites).

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Corroborate

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Support; given greater credibility by providing evidence.

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Purpose or motive of a source

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Analysis of a source to establish the original reason for its creation. Who was the intended audience? For what purposes was it written?

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Content of a source

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The subject or ideas contained in something written, said, created, or represented.

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Context of a Source

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The social, economic, cultural, and political influences that may have shaped the source.

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Usefulness

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The analysis of a source to determine how relevant it is in relation to historical questions. A source is useful if it tells you information you need to know.

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Reliability

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The quality of being trustworthy; in history, reliability is considered in terms of degrees, rather than absolutes.

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Accuracy of a source

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Sources can often contain a mix of accurate and inaccurate information due to factors like the author's limited knowledge, biases, or the passage of time.