Introduction

Welcome to the Archives and Primary Source Handbook. This open-access handbook serves as both a textbook for those interested in learning about handling and using archival and primary source materials, and a guide for educators teaching these skills. The handbook features contributions from numerous authors, reflecting the extensive expertise of our colleagues, the diversity of materials found in archival collections, and the finite nature of our time. Our goal was to create a handbook that meets the needs of the many, without exhausting the resources of the few. We chose the open-access publishing model because we believe educational materials should be freely accessible. Learners and educators can apply the materials in this text to their own collections or use the provided links and resources, which are predominantly open-access, publicly available primary source materials.

Each chapter underwent an open peer-review process, where authors and reviewers were aware of each other’s identities. We provided clear guidelines to reviewers to generate feedback that identified substantive ways to improve the text rather than reasons not to publish[1]. Alongside our commitment to providing a reliable text, we supported our authors throughout the entire publication journey.

The handbook is organized into three sections:

Reference: This section includes encyclopedia-style chapters that provide context and aids researchers and learners in understanding how archival collections and the materials in them work and can be “read.”

Lesson Plans: This section includes activities and classes that can be used as written, or modified, by educators.

Pedagogy: This section includes educational theories and practices that inform teaching with primary and archival sources.

This is a living handbook, with the goal of updating and adding new content every couple years.

Finally, this handbook joins a rich pool of open educational and teaching resources. Many contributors are also active in the Teaching With Primary Sources (TPS) Collective, and we recommend TPS resources to other educators and learners.

We hope you find the contributions to this book useful and share it widely.

[1] We want to acknowledge Tiffany Bowers for sharing her master’s research, “Analyzing the Peer Review Guidelines of Open and Closed LIS Journals,” completed at the University of Denver in 2022.