1 Planning the Exercise

This exercise aims to introduce students to primary sources related to Baltimore history and the archival research process in an online learning environment. It draws on the idea that students will engage with materials and learn more by working together during active learning exercises.[1] Students will work in small groups, complete an exercise, and report back to the rest of the class for larger class discussion. In this activity student participation and discussion are key collaborative and reflective processes. Instructors should engage with the learning process and work collaboratively with the students in order to discover how primary sources can be used in research projects.

This primary source online activity was created by drawing on a variety of existing primary source activity lesson plans.[2] [3][4] Specifically, this exercise uses questions based on the Library of Congress’ Primary Source Analysis Tool [5] in order to help students engage with and analyze primary sources. The way this activity uses the tool is based on the methodology Blake Spitz used when adapting the LOC tool for their exercise as described in their 2021 article.[6] The format of the exercise is also drawn from Kopp’s class exercise “Start to Finish: Learning the Primary Source Research Process in 50 Minutes.”[7] These resources can be used to further alter this exercise for a variety of classes. 

Utilizing unique 20th century Baltimore history records from the UBalt Special Collections & Archives will allow students to learn about a variety of local history, social history, and community history topics.

 

Learning Objectives

  • Use the UBalt Special Collections & Archives to locate primary sources
  • Analyze primary sources
  • Distinguish primary sources from secondary sources
  • Create research questions using primary sources focused on Baltimore history
Audience:

This exercise is primarily intended for online undergraduate students, but the exercise could also be applicable to graduate students new to using archives. It can be adapted for in-person classes.

Courses:

The exercise can be used broadly as a tool to help students learn to use The University of Baltimore Special Collections & Archives and to help students understand and use primary sources. This exercise is relevant to University of Baltimore students in interdisciplinary studies, history courses, and communications or design courses.  It is also applicable to any instructor or student interested in learning to use the archives for research on Baltimore history.

Collections Utilized From UBalt Special Collections & Archives:
  1. Center for Educational Innovation. (n.d.). Active Learning. Retrieved February, 2021, from https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning. ↵
  2. The exercise is based on several online resources. Barton, M., & The RBMS Instruction and Outreach Committee. (2019, May). A lesson plan template. Retrieved March, 2021, from https://tpscollective.org/guidelines-toolkit/toolkits-planning-with-the-guidelines-1/. ↵
  3. Spitz, B. (2021, March). Structured Close Looking: Modifying a Primary Source Analysis Activity for Asynchronous & Synchronous Remote Teaching. Retrieved March, 2021, from https://tpscollective.org/notes-from-the-field/structured-close-looking-modifying-a-primary-source-analysis-activity-for-asynchronous-synchronous-remote-teaching/. ↵
  4. “Primary Source Analysis Tool,” Getting Started with Primary Sources, Library of Congress, accessed January 21, 2021, https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/getting-started-with-primary-sources/guides/ ↵
  5. “Primary Source Analysis Tool,” Getting Started with Primary Sources, Library of Congress, accessed January 21, 2021, https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/getting-started-with-primary-sources/guides/ ↵
  6. Spitz, B. (2021, March). Structured Close Looking: Modifying a Primary Source Analysis Activity for Asynchronous & Synchronous Remote Teaching. Retrieved March, 2021, from https://tpscollective.org/notes-from-the-field/structured-close-looking-modifying-a-primary-source-analysis-activity-for-asynchronous-synchronous-remote-teaching/ ↵
  7. Kopp, Maggie (2014). Start to Finish: Learning the Primary Source Research Process in 50 Minutes. In Bahde, A., Smedberg, H., & Taormina, M. (Eds.) Using Primary Sources: Hands-On Instructional Exercises: Hands-On Instructional Exercises. (pp. `8-20). ABC-CLIO. ↵

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Primary Sources Online: Baltimore 20th Century History Copyright © by Laura Bell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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