This study shows that upper secondary students’ historical writing maybe influenced by their use of sources from traditional archives versus theiruse of digital sources in databases. A qualitative approach, theoreticalperspectives, and historical empathy seem to be stimulated primarily byusing traditional archives and print sources, while digital archives andsources, in contrast, stimulate the use of quantitative data and a moresocial scientific approach. The results indicate a historiographical shift instudents’ historical thinking, which researchers of history education needto consider in a digital era. The results of this study call for reflections inhistory teaching to make it possible for students to learn and experiencethe double nature of history as part of the humanities and social sciences