| Type | Primary source collections |
| Origin | 15th century |
| Purpose | Preservation of historical documents • Scholarly research • Education |
| Evolution | Renaissance practice • 19th-century scholarly tools • Electronic collections • AI-powered collaborative research platforms |
| Challenges | Authentication • Provenance • Data privacy |
| Components | Original documents • Document extracts • Annotations |
| Organization | Chronological order • Thematic grouping • Geographical division |
