Hello All I just finished reading "Desperate Sons" by Les Standiford. He is the Director of Creative Writing at Florida International University and the book was published in 2012. I also enjoyed the book very much but... My question is in the Bibliography he lists "Primary Sources". Most of them are more than 80 years after the events he is describing. These are actions and events leading up to the American Revolution. In "EE" 2nd edition on page 22 it says Primary Source: one created by someone with firsthand knowledge or one created at or about the time an event occurred. EE also discusses a Printed Primary Source and the ones in the book don't meet that criteria either. Other than some letters he references the Bibliography consist mostly of publications starting 80 to 100 years later. Is the academic/publishing business definition that different from "ours"? Douglas Burnett Satellite Beach FL

Doug -- No way does EE rely on the obsolete and imprecise term "primary source." Sources are either original or derivative, or authored works. Information is primary or secondary or undeterminable. The EE web site has the up-to-date process map at QuickLesson 17. Harold Harold Henderson, CG midwestroots.net *Finding Ancestors in Fort Wayne: The Genealogist's Unofficial One-Stop Guide to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center * http://www.midwestroots.net/ <http://www.midwestroots.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ACPLGC-April-2013.pdf> Certified Genealogist (SM) No. 1029 Certified Genealogist and CG are proprietary service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists® used by the Board to identify its program of genealogical competency evaluation and used under license by the Board’s associates. On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 8:14 PM, JDBEsq via < [email protected]> wrote: > Hello All > I just finished reading "Desperate Sons" by Les Standiford. He is the > Director of Creative Writing at Florida International University and the > book > was published in 2012. I also enjoyed the book very much but... > > My question is in the Bibliography he lists "Primary Sources". Most of > them are more than 80 years after the events he is describing. These are > actions and events leading up to the American Revolution. > > In "EE" 2nd edition on page 22 it says Primary Source: one created by > someone with firsthand knowledge or one created at or about the time an > event > occurred. EE also discusses a Printed Primary Source and the ones in the > book > don't meet that criteria either. > > Other than some letters he references the Bibliography consist mostly of > publications starting 80 to 100 years later. > > Is the academic/publishing business definition that different from "ours"? > > Douglas Burnett > Satellite Beach > FL > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Doug, as already pointed out, as genealogists we speak of original and derivative sources. There is very much a difference between the way historians view sources and the way genealogists view them. I have an example I use in one of my talks: When you ask a historian to point to a primary source, to use the historians' term, he or she will reach onto his or her bookshelf and pull out a copy of, say, the Constitution of the United States of America. It will be in a book or pamphlet form, published anytime between the late 1700s and yesterday. The words are there, and that is all. When you ask a genealogist to view an original source, again using the example of the Constitution, he or she will jump into his or her car, drive to Washington, D.C., pull up to the National Archives, and go into the rotunda and view the original document in its sealed case. Hope that helps. And in defense of historians, we also examine original sources. I am working in the East Florida papers, the archive of documents produced during the second period of Spanish possession of Florida, 1784-1821. Karen Packard Rhodes Middleburg, Clay County, Florida Both historian and genealogist On 5/31/2015 9:14 PM, JDBEsq via wrote: > Hello All > I just finished reading "Desperate Sons" by Les Standiford. He is the > Director of Creative Writing at Florida International University and the book > was published in 2012. I also enjoyed the book very much but... > > My question is in the Bibliography he lists "Primary Sources". Most of > them are more than 80 years after the events he is describing. These are > actions and events leading up to the American Revolution. > > In "EE" 2nd edition on page 22 it says Primary Source: one created by > someone with firsthand knowledge or one created at or about the time an event > occurred. EE also discusses a Printed Primary Source and the ones in the book > don't meet that criteria either. > > Other than some letters he references the Bibliography consist mostly of > publications starting 80 to 100 years later. > > Is the academic/publishing business definition that different from "ours"? > > Douglas Burnett > Satellite Beach > FL >