Primary Source Literacy Rubric (4 of 4)

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Using primary sources in a research assignment

Instructors may find this rubric helpful when evaluating students' use of primary sources in a research assignment.

Note: the two middle columns are blank by design, to give you some flexibility in determining the extent to which a student meets the Capstone or Benchmark.

Criteria	Capstone - 4	3	2	Benchmark - 1
Identify source materials	Identifies key components of source material including what is it, who created it, and why.			Does not identify any key components of the source material.
Evaluate perspectives	Evaluates perspectives of the creator(s) including tone, subjectivity, and biases and relates these to the original purpose and audience of the source.			Does not consider perspectives present in the source. Does not relate to the original purpose and audience of the source.
Apply context	Applies knowledge of the time, culture, creator, format, genre, and publication history to situate source in context.			Does not apply contextual knowledge to situate source in context.
Identify silences	Identifies, interrogates, and considers the reasons for silences, gaps, contradictions, or evidence of power relationships.			Does not identify silences, gaps, contradictions, or evidence of power relationships.
Historical empathy	Demonstrates historical empathy, curiosity about the past, and appreciation for historical sources and historical actors			Does not demonstrate historical empathy, curiosity, or appreciation for history

Rubric developed by Meggan Press and Meg Meiman at Indiana University Bloomington. Adapted from the SAA/RBMS Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. CC-BY-SA 4.0

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