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Interpreting Primary and Secondary Sources

Example Thumbnails Diaries Newspapers Publications Electronic Records Audiovisual Official Documents Photographs

Audio-Visual Recordings

Is this film ... Primary?     or     Secondary?

Audio-visual recordings are often valued for the authenticity and sense of closeness they bring to the the speeches, sporting events, interviews, newscasts, and performances they document. These primary sources can also be compiled to create a useful secondary source, for example, Ken Burns's Baseball documentary is a secondary source created from a variety of primary sources.

Because handling and play back of audio-visual recordings can easily damage the contents, archives often make reference copies for researchers to use.

Still image from Digital Collections@UM Films interface

Mouse over the image to learn more about this film.

Screen shot of Football: Maryland (19) vs. South Carolina (7), 1948.

University of Maryland, College Park. Dept. of Intercollegiate Athletics records. Accession 96-52. Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries