annotate-a-primary-source

name	annotate-a-primary-source
category	school
description	Annotate a primary source by separating observation, context, interpretation, uncertainty, provenance, and research relevance. Use when original material must support a defensible analysis.

annotate-a-primary-source

Keep what the source shows separate from what you infer.

When to use

• Use for letters, records, images, objects, speeches, datasets, interviews, or contemporary media.
• Do not treat a source as complete, neutral, authentic, or representative without evidence.

Preconditions

• Capture the source, repository or owner, identifier, date, creator, format, and access conditions.

Procedure

1. Record provenance, custody, version, rights, transcription or translation, and known gaps.
2. Describe visible or audible features before interpreting them.
3. Identify creator, audience, purpose, context, genre, and likely constraints.
4. Mark quotations, observations, interpretations, questions, contradictions, and external context distinctly.
5. Assess authenticity, perspective, omission, power, preservation, and representativeness.
6. Connect relevant evidence to the research question without overclaiming.
7. Save a citation and a path back to the exact source location.

Failure plan

• If authenticity or translation is uncertain, label it and seek corroboration.
• If material is sensitive or restricted, follow access, consent, and quotation rules.

Worked example

An annotator records what a 1942 factory memo says, who issued it, what workers are absent from the record, and which claims need payroll-record corroboration.

Done

• An annotation document records provenance, observations, context, interpretations, uncertainty, relevance, and citation
• Source-location, authenticity, rights, quotation, translation, and observation-versus-inference checks verify traceability