I must have missed some mail on this subject, but I'll take the test: In a message dated 4/19/01 4:41:20 PM, martee@citlink.net writes: << Then too, suppose you are trying to prove your Grandmother's birth year. Surely, every one of us would consider ALL of the following bits of information as evidence. So, those of you who think that the labels "primary" and "secondary" please tell us which are which: 1) a Bible entry in her own hand saying 1899. A. Secondary. A person is not a witness to their own birth 2) her tombstone saying 1898 A. Secondary. Who knows who provided the information and the information was recorded long after the fact. 3) her obituary saying 1899 A. Secondary, same reason as Answer #2. 4) her daughter's recollection that it was 1898. A. Secondary, same reasons as above. The daughter has no personal knowledge of her mother's birth. 5) her son's family history saying that it was 1899 A. Secondary, same reasons as above 6) her death certificate saying 1898, A. Secondary. A death certificate is primary source for the date of death, but not the date of birth. 7) the church birth record showing 1899, A. Depends on when the birth record was entered into the church book. If at or shortly after the actual birth, then this is a primary source. 8) her driver's license showing 1899 A. Secondary Source. Not created by anyone with personal knowledge of the event at the time it happened. 9) her own notes showing 1898 A. Secondary, for same reason a person is not a witness to their own birth 10) her mother's Bible record revealing that 1899 Probably a primary source if entered at or near the time of birth. Judge by handwriting, ink used, and date of publication of bible. [11] and her marriage license stating that 1899 was the correct year. A. Secondary. It is a primary source for the date of marriage (or license) but not the date of birth. As the NGS Home Study course explains it, a primary source is a record created at or near the time of the event by a person with personal knowledge of the event with no reason to lie about it. A secondary source is a record created long after the event occured, either by someone who knew the facts or someone who did not have personal knowledge of the event, but was told that fact by someone else. In addition to primary and secondary SOURCES, both can be either direct or indirect evidence. Direct evidence specifically states a fact such as "John Smith married Mary Jones" where as indirect evidence simply implies such a marriage, such as the will of Sam Jones that names "my daughter Mary Smith wife of John Smith." Your best evidence is a primary source that gives direct evidence on the problem to be solved. This is not always available, however. One has to use all the sources one can, but make every effort to get to the "original" source of the information. Hope I passed the test! Craig Kilby