This post is part of a series highlighting different items from the Library’s Cold War primary source set.
While creating our new Cold War Primary Source Set, I came across a Library of Congress digital collection that I had no idea existed: Country Studies. A country study of the Soviet Union was published in 1991, just as the Cold War era was coming to a close. Two maps from the country study are featured in the set.
Before including these maps in the primary source set, I paused to reflect. Is the country study, together with its contents, a primary source? At first glance, the response could be no. Country studies contain analysis by scholars, a hallmark of a secondary source. However, what if the question I was asking changed? To what extent does the question under study determine whether a source is primary or secondary?
Student Activity: “Is this a Primary Source?”
- First, show students the Soviet Union country study and ask: Is this a primary source? Invite students to give their initial thoughts and share their reasoning. Point students to this primer on working with primary sources from Teaching with the Library. Read or post the definition offered. Ask students: How does this definition line up with the country study as a source?
- Encourage students to think about the phrase “time and place under study.” Ask: What does that mean? As needed, help students make the connection between “time and place under study” to the questions we ask when researching a particular topic and time period.
- Bring students back to the original question being asked about the country study (“Is this a primary source?”). Challenge students to consider a revised question: Is this a primary source for studying how people generally understood the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War? Note any changes in students’ thinking and invite them to share their reasoning.
- Close the activity by going to the item record and information about the country study collection. Help students locate the creators of the source, information about its purpose and intended audience, as well as the and the time and place it was created. Ask students to consider why these elements are important to consider. As time allows, students might discuss the challenges and opportunities of primary sources, especially related to the nature of the question under study.
Examining the relationship between the question asked and the sources being examined is a valuable exercise for students. It can help learners build a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of primary sources. By engaging in a series of deliberate and evolving questions about a particular source, students may begin to recognize that whether a source is primary or secondary depends on the research question being asked.
Teachers could apply this exercise to other sources in the Cold War set: What strategies or practices do you use to help students think about the nuances of primary sources? Please share your thoughts in the comments!