When evaluating primary or secondary sources, ask the following questions:
- How does the author know these details (names, dates, times)? Was the author present at the event or soon on the scene?
- Where does this information come from - personal experience, eyewitness accounts, or reports written by others?
- Are the author's conclusions based on a single piece of evidence, or have many sources been taken into account (e.g., diary entries, along with third-party eyewitness accounts, impressions of contemporaries, newspaper accounts)?