Weaknesses:
Photos can be great primary sources, but they require more than a quick glance. To get the most out of an image, the researcher needs to engage with image and "read" it in a critical way.
Some good questions to ask while looking at a photo are:
The goal of citing research sources is to enable researchers to locate the exact item which is being referenced. The most basic information needed for citing a source from MNHS collections includes:
Photographer is known:
Photographer. Title. Date. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Enstrom, Louis. Cat in Doll Bed. ca. 1915. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Photographer is known, and image is part of a larger collection:
Photographer. Title. Date. Collection Name. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Robert McNeely. Walter Mondale holds a meeting in the Vice President's Office in the West Wing of the White House. 9 February 1977. Vice President's Photographer negatives, Vice Presidential Papers, Walter F. Mondale Papers. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Photographer is unknown, but image is in a larger collection:
Title. Date. Collection Name. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Chimp with a Graflex Camera. 1937. Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative Collection. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Photographer is unknown:
Title. Date. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
For more examples of citations for different types of materials, please visit our website at https://www.mnhs.org/library/learn/citing
Primary sources are materials from the time of the person or event being researched. Letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, and other types of first-hand accounts and records are all primary sources.
Confused about Primary vs. Secondary Sources? Check out our short video tutorial:
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