I have started doing a historical project on automobiles - mainly relating to automobiles in the United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada from German and Japanese manufacturers and things relating to vehicle history, marketing, MSRPs etc.
The scope of the project is:
Marketing and advertisement of the vehicles.
Cultural impact of vehicles [for example the Volkswagen Golf GTI modification scene, Volkswagen Transporter T5 modified car scene, Japanese car modifications for Toyota/Subaru etc.]
Political issues involving automobile manufacturers.
The period I am covering is from 1979 to 2010 - from the 1970s up to the middle of the 2007-2012 Recession.
This is my first major project [it's for a website] but before I start, my questions are:
How can I obtain a copy of a primary or secondary source legally?
What are the best methods to assess a source for reliability using the Who, what, where, when, why criteria?
Would my research count as a primary source [due to being original research], a secondary source, or because it's a website, a tertiary source?
What do I need to know when dealing with primary sources and are there any legal considerations to take into account?
I am from Wigan/Billinge, United Kingdom if location is a factor here.
If any historian could advise me on this I would gladly appreciate it.
Hello there. Your question seems to be related to school work, so we just want to remind you, and any potential respondents, that our rules DO permit people to ask for help with their homework, so long as they are seeking clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself. This policy is further explained in this META Thread.
Additionally, while our users may be able to help you out here, we hope that you also will take the time to check out our six-part series, "Finding and Understanding Sources", which should hopefully prove to be helpful for you as you continue in your research.