If you
asked people to give you example of a historical record or primary source,
most would people would probably mention some kind of written source.
They might say official reports, files, court documents, financial papers,
newspapers, old family papers or official files. All these written sources
can be used by historians to find out about the past. They might not
have been created for that purpose but they are still very useful.
We're going
to take a look at some examples - an official
document, entries from a diary,
an inventory, extracts from a newspaper
and a map - to see how written sources can be
used. When you look at the sources think about why they were made or
created and how this differs from how we use them today.
