Academics · Study Skills

Who made this,
and why should you believe it.

A historical source is a piece of evidence with an author, an audience and a reason to exist. Record each one with who made it, when, for whom and why, what was happening around it, what it says and what it leaves out. The organizer measures the gap between the events and the record and flags what needs a second source.

Add a sourceWhat you get
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Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Study skills kit, $29 for 21 items.

Your sources

The worked example is made up around real kinds of sources: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, a 1937 Federal Writers’ Project interview and a textbook chapter. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Academics · Study Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per source: what it is, primary or secondary, who made it, the year made and the year of the events, audience, purpose, point of view, context, what it says, what it leaves out and five reading steps. Works out the gap in years; counts primary sources; flags long gaps, persuasive purposes, secondary sources used as evidence and steps not done.
Who it is for
Middle and high school students in history and social studies, and students writing a history research paper or National History Day project.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per source. Prints one source, every source in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Study skills kit ($29) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Study Skills space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add the source: what it is, who made it and when.
  2. Note the audience, purpose and point of view before reading closely.
  3. Write what was happening at the time.
  4. Record what it says and what it leaves out.
  5. Corroborate a key claim with another source.

Add a source

Reading like a historian

Four questions historians askSourcingWho made it, whenand why?What could themaker know, andwhat did they want?ContextWhat was happeningthen?How does thatchange what thewords meant?Close readingWhich words,details andsilences stand out?What does the tonesuggest?CorroborationWhat do othersources say?Where do theyagree, and where dothey conflict?Four questions historians askSourcingWho made it, when and why?What could the maker know, and what did theywant?ContextWhat was happening then?How does that change what the words meant?Close readingWhich words, details and silences stand out?What does the tone suggest?CorroborationWhat do other sources say?Where do they agree, and where do theyconflict?
Sourcing comes first: experienced historians look at who made a document before they read a word of it.

Primary or secondary

A primary source was made at the time or by someone who took part: a speech, a letter, a photograph, an interview with a witness. A secondary source was written later from other sources. The same book can be either, depending on your question.

Late records

Interviews recorded decades later, such as the Federal Writers’ Project narratives of the 1930s, are irreplaceable and need care: memory changes, and the interviewer shaped what was asked and how the words were written down.

Sources

  1. Wineburg, S. (2001). Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. Temple University Press.
  2. Stanford History Education Group (now the Digital Inquiry Group). Reading Like a Historian curriculum and historical thinking chart.
  3. Library of Congress. Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938 (loc.gov).
  4. Library of Congress. Gettysburg Address, Nicolay and Hay copies and background (loc.gov).

The worked examples are made up around real kinds of sources; the interview is summarized, not quoted, and no real interviewee is named. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.