Primary Research and Writing: People, Places, and Spaces is a text for writing students, designed to help readers research and understand the components of an academic, political, or home group, and then find a way to become active within that community through writing. This text will also help advanced rhetoric/composition students, and those studying in other disciplines who are conducting archival research and/or community engagement, as it emphasizes archival research methods throughout.

Authors Lynée Lewis Gaillet and Michelle F. Eble have built a pedagogical approach that makes archival and primary research interesting, urgent, and relevant to emerging writers. Students are able to explore ways of analyzing their findings and presenting their results to their intended readers.

With in-text features to aid students in understanding primary research and its role in their writing, chapters include special elements such as:

• Communities in Context – Profiles of traditional and digital communities that help students understand the characteristics of communities and group members
• Profiles of Primary Researchers – Spotlights on professionals, giving an illuminating look into the role primary research plays in real-world research and writing
• Student Writing – Examples of exemplary student writing that demonstrate how research can be relevant, engaging, and interesting, with annotations.
• Invention Exercises - Exercises designed to help students locate primary investigation within communities that they already understand or find appealing
• Writing Exercises - Writing exercises that offer students practice in exploring communities and investigating primary materials.
• Readings – Annotated readings with questions to guide analysis, pulled from a variety of rich sources, that give students inspiration for undertaking their own research projects. 

This text has a robust companion website that provides resources for instructors and students, with sample syllabi, chapter overviews, lecture outlines, sample assignments, and a list of class resources.

Primary Research and Writing is an engaging textbook developed for students in the beginning stages of their academic writing careers, and prepares its readers for a lifetime of research and writing.