Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources

In June 2019, the University of Virginia Library joined Ithaka S+R’s study, “Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources,” which examines the pedagogical practices of humanities and social sciences faculty at participating institutions who teach with primary sources at the undergraduate level. By participating in this study, the investigators from the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library seek to better understand our faculty’s use of primary sources in the classroom in order that our staff may develop resources and services to support faculty in this work. In doing so, we are investing in and supporting the University of Virginia’s Great and Good: the 2030 Plan, a strategic vision for the future that emphasizes a core commitment to the liberal arts, the pursuit of truth and knowledge, and learning experiences that prepare students for their futures. The Small Special Collections Library is committed to supporting research and teaching with rare and unique primary source materials as one of the ways it contributes to the University’s mission.

Our research is connected to a suite of parallel studies being developed at other higher education institutions. We, along with the other participants, engaged Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting organization that helps the academic, cultural, and publishing communities, to coordinate this parallel effort and to provide guidance on research methodology and data analysis.

This report describes six major themes that we discovered during the course of our research. The information herein is based on interviews with fourteen faculty from the University of Virginia’s (UVA) College of Arts and Sciences and does not include data from other participating institutions. Knowledge of UVA’s Special Collections and experience with the collections generated interview responses skewed toward discussions of physical primary source collections more than digital primary source collections. However, enough faculty mentioned using digital primary source material for their own research and for their classes that future studies into how our faculty use digital primary sources are warranted.

Our research is connected to a suite of parallel studies being developed at other higher education institutions. We, along with the other participants, engaged Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting organization that helps the academic, cultural, and publishing communities, to coordinate this parallel effort and to provide guidance on research methodology and data analysis.