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HIST - What is History - Digital Collection Analysis: Home
Evaluating a Digital Primary Source Collection
Whether a digital primary source collection is available through a commercial vendor or freely available through a cultural institution, take time to assess what you will find in that digital collection. Here are some questions to ask as you explore the collection:
What is the name of the commercial entity or cultural institution that compiled and published the digital primary source collection?
If a commercial entity created the collection, what are the institutional (e.g., libraries, museums, etc.) and/or governmental origins of the primary sources in the collection?
Does the website for the database indicate the decision-making process for inclusion/exclusion of sources? If so, what is explicitly stated as being included and excluded?
Are the objects digitized copies/surrogates/facsimiles of analog originals, or were they “born digital?”
What are the dates of coverage of the primary sources?
How does browsing the database by topic differ from keyword searching?
What types of primary source materials does the database contain on your topic?
What are the strengths of the database and what evidence illustrates this about your topic?
What omissions/gaps/absences/limitations exist on your topic, and why might they exist?