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Western Civilization, Antiquity to 1715: Websites

Primary Sources

Transcriptions, facsimiles, and translations of actual historical documents.  Primary sources are essential for academic research in history.

Resources from the History Channel, includes Audio-visual

Evaluating Web Sites

Asking these questions will help you to determine whether the resources you find are credible and reliable.

  1. Who created the page? Does the person or organization have the appropriate credentials?

  2. Why was this site created? What is the purpose of the site?  For example, is it sponsored by a company that has a financial interest in the topic?

  3. When was the page created and/or last updated? How current is the information?

  4. Does the author cite trustworthy sources? How does the author support their argument?

Learn more about evaluating websites or check our handy tipsheet:.Evaluating web sites