Despite their classification here as 'archive sites' both websites contain both primary and secondary sources. Treating the websites as a whole, it would have to be admitted that they are both of mixed source. The New Deal Network website (NDN) contains equally prominent 'Research and Study' and 'Features' sections. In the 'Research and Study' section are contained a core of 20,000 sources including photos, political cartoons, speeches and letters, organised explicitly as a 'theme-based archive'. The very brief accompanying information for each source means that they could be considered as purely primary sources. The 'Features' section, on the other hand, attempts to 'do' history, using some of the sources from the neighbouring archive. These features are constructed independently from each other and vary in their structure and use of sources. However, it would be fair to say that these are secondary materials, which provide some degree of analysis and link to primary sources from the Library and Gallery.
In contrast, 'The Fifties' Web' is divided into topic categories rather than type of source and material. Under each category, such as 'Music', can be found a variety of sources. Often an overview text provides an unreferenced guide to issues and narrative of that topic in the 1950s. There are also graphics, photos and cartoons throughout the webpages, which are not necessarily referred to, as well as an overall 'style' which is a representation of the 1950s. Other sources are an explicit feature of the topics, such as audio interview files and information presented as summarised tables. The combination of these different elements makes it difficult to classify these sources. Furthermore, a narrative that threads its way through the presentation of 'primary' and 'secondary' source material makes it difficult for us to use these terms with the same confidence as for a 'real' archive. There is still a wealth of information to be obtained from sites of this category, but careful analysis must be applied. I argue that this type of site and sources are mixed, and of a particular nature unique to the web.