n.the knowledge and competency in finding, interpreting, evaluating, and using primary sourcesArcher, Hanlon, and Levine 2009, 414Students who receive library instruction relating to primary source research at the University of Maryland do so through a single general library instruction session in which primary sources are mentioned as one among several types of library resources. The limited attention typically paid to primary sources in these sessions is necessarily inadequate to creating primary source literacy.Bahde 2013, 177Identifying and describing these skills allows special collections librarians and archivists to offer more than basic orientation or project-based work in special collections instruction sessions. Even the one-off class visit can become more meaningful if the pedagogical focus shifts to active learning exercises to teach sustainable primary source literacy skills.Daines and Nimer 2015, 24To fill this gap successfully, cultural heritage professionals need to define primary source literacy clearly, considering both the application of information literacy principles to these materials and the unique skills required for using primary sources effectively.SAA/ACRL 2018, 1–2Primary source literacy is the combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, and ethically use primary sources within specific disciplinary contexts, in order to create new knowledge or to revise existing understandings.
