Constructing an understanding of any subject is most effective when students are not the passive recipient of someone else's ideas, but instead can actively and concretely explore materials. When the subject matter is history, that exploration is even more compelling when individuals are able to examine and learn from primary source materials. Primary source materials are those documents or artifacts that are either created during the time period under study, or subsequent to the event by those who were participants. The use of these materials to support learning allows students to come to understand and analyze history through an a perspective unfiltered by another historian's values. Rather than studying predigested history, the use of primary source materials allows students to be an historian, to build an in depth understanding of the nuances of an historical event, and to provide their own interpretation of the evidence. This can be a significantly more powerful approach to learning history.

According to the American Library Association, original records that are "created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories" are considered primary source materials. Artifacts that fit into this category include "letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research". (citation) Caution should be exercised when students search for these materials on the web, in that not all artifacts may be original and unaltered. Questioning where the materials are stored and who is serving them, the purpose behind the site, the provenance of the materials (if provided), and other issues will help to establish their legitimacy.

The next page provides a link to many historical resources and Primary Source Materials.