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Re: Please excuse this rant, raving, thing that I have going on t oday, but I'm very tired and cranky, BU



Hi,

>On Wed, 16 May 2001, Geri E. Solomon <Geri.E.Solomon@HOFSTRA.EDU> wrote:

>Please excuse this rant, raving, thing that I have going on today, but
>I'm verytired and cranky, BUT....

>Is it me, or do people not understand that printed materials (including
>newspapers) are not primary sources????? Unless it's one of a kind,
>unique, etc. it's secondary???? I must be missing something, but, the
>point of a newspaper is to reach A LOT of people at once, it's printed,
>it's secondary???? Yes???

[snip]

####################

Granted evryone subscribed to this list probably has a good idea of the
differences between primary vs secondary sources.  That's often not the
case out in the real world -- especially in terms of newspaper and
magazine articles.  For example, a quick-and-dirty web search pulled up
the following URLs.  The criteria seems to be if the newspapers are "old"
then they are primary sources:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html
http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/sauer/primary.html
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/epubs/primary.html
http://www.library.wwu.edu/ref/subjguides/journlism/primarysources.htm
http://www.keyschool.pvt.k12.md.us/londontown/Pages/Pages/documnts.html

Cheers,

Susie

Mary Sue Stephenson
Senior Instructor & Coordinator of Information Technology
School of Library, Archival and Information Studies
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
604.822-6392 [voice]  604.822.6006 [fax]

On Wed, 16 May 2001, Wood, Thomas wrote:

> It's true that newspaper clippings are not primary sources...
>
> BUT
>
> they are an organic part of many files; they are often enclosures in
> correspondence, which refers to them; they are often important components of
> research files, which are used to develop policy.
>
> MOREOVER
>
> they are often valuable research tools. While a researcher could find many
> of the same newspaper and magazine articles on a subject by using indexes
> and pulling out old microfilm, a good clipping collection can be a goldmine
> of difficult-to-find sources, all conveniently assembled in one place.
>
> I don't feel fuzzly and cuddly about clipping files, besides the fact that
> they're often valuable and useful research sources.
>
>
>
> Thomas J. Wood
> Archivist
> Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
> University of Illinois at Springfield
> P.O. Box 19243
> Springfield IL 62794-9243
> 217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | http://www.uis.edu/library/lib-arch
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geri E. Solomon [mailto:Geri.E.Solomon@HOFSTRA.EDU]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 3:34 PM
> To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject: Please excuse this rant, raving, thing that I have going on
> today, but I'm very tired and cranky, BU
>
>
> Please excuse this rant, raving, thing that I have going on today, but I'm
> very tired and cranky, BUT....
>
> Is it me, or do people not understand that printed materials (including
> newspapers) are not primary sources?????
> Unless it's one of a kind, unique, etc. it's secondary????
> I must be missing something, but, the point of a newspaper is to reach A LOT
> of people at once, it's printed, it's secondary???? Yes???
>
> I understand that people seem all fuzzy and cuddley towards newspaper
> clippings (why, i can't figure out!) but if you ask me, if you're that fuzzy
> and happy with clippings, what do you feel about original manuscripts and
> unique documents????  Come see our original photos, correspondence, diaries,
> scrapbooks, and memorabilia, then get all gushy, leave the newsclips out of
> the picture as far as I'm concerned!!!!!
>
> --Geri Solomon
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
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> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>