The Fab Five of Primary Source Archives

All is not yet right with the world. But the NCAA basketball tournament is doing a lot, at least in my little corner piece, to help make things just a little bit better.

I love the upsets. The underdogs. The last second shots. It’s a great way to spend a couple of weekends.

So when I was messing around with a long list of primary source archives this morning and needed a way to organize them, I figured, why not just sort them by five starters and bench players? My starting five are my favorite archives- the ones I know I can always count on, that have easy search features, that let me save and tag stuff, and that are designed for teachers to use.

And there are others, that while super important to the success of the team, come off the bench just when I need them. Maybe their interface is a bit wonky or it can be difficult to find things at times. Maybe their database is a bit small. Or I can’t save what primary sources I find. Still good. Just not part of the starting five.

So if you’re looking for some great primary source archives – look no further. This is the list that takes the championship.

And if you’re looking for a few great ideas for using primary sources in the classroom, try some of these.