What sources provide the most valuable information about the past?

In the past I would have said that some of the documentaries on the History Channel are interesting (the Civil War series by Ken Burns was Excellent). Now I would not recommend History Channel to anybody. I don't see anything listed on the channel that is even remotely connected to history (i.e., Swamp people, brothers etc.). However, History International is great (I have to pay a little more for that channel) plus the Smithsonian channel and National Geographic.

And, of course, there are BOOKS. Some are fiction based on historical information, some are just the information, both are good sources.

Museums, Natural History Museum, whatever is in your city.

I like the films in particular because you can actually see what life was like back then (the films go back several hundred years when the camera was invented). I like to see the clothes people wore, their homes, their towns, what they did for entertainment, you know like Deadwood (HBO). Very very interesting.