Difference between revisions of "Methods & Sources of Historical Research"
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* http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/advanced-search | * http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/advanced-search | ||
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+ | === National Archives Research guides! === | ||
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+ | * How to look for: Abbreviations in merchant seamen’s records (DECODED!) - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/abbreviations-merchant-seamens-records/ | ||
+ | * How to look for: Crew lists and agreements and log books of merchant ships 1747-1860 - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/crew-lists-agreements-log-books-merchant-ships-1747-1860/ | ||
+ | * Great list of other maritime history records held by other archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/maritime-history-records-held-by-other-archives/ | ||
+ | * Royal Museums Greenwich / National Maritime Museum - http://collections.rmg.co.uk/archive.html#!asearch | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* DEBBIE'S NOTES: copies of letters, drafted until perfect.... | * DEBBIE'S NOTES: copies of letters, drafted until perfect.... |
Revision as of 13:46, 11 July 2016
Notes from a course on methods and sources of historical research at IHR, 11 July 2016 - 15 July 2016
Contents
The Nature of Archives and Primary Source Material
- Notion of difference between primary and secondary sources... but its quite fuzzy
- Primary = unmediated access to past (not processed by another mind)
- Newspapers = a report of what has been told. testimonies are primary but the reporter has chewed thru the material.
- Historians make statements about things which should be believed - by people who don't have access to primary sources
- Having looked at the primary sources = is the reason why people listen to historians
- Does digitization undermine the authority of the historian who derives his/her authority on basis on having the ability to find the primary source material? - should not be - because the historian should define his/her role based on his/her ability to contextualise
- Primary sources tend to be gathered and held in institutions called archives. historians tend to be interested in written material. others look at other types of materials , objects, material culture, etc.
- archive - gatekeepers? destroyed by organisations because deemed not of interest?
- uk? governments destroy 90%? of records - horrifying but also liberating
- previously history was dead white male europeans, now there is a broadening of history
- an archive is a set of staff to administer a procedure of cataloguing and ordering
- the diff between archival and library catalogue is that libraries have certain systems which attempt to divide human knowledge into recognisable chunks
- archive - institutional procedure orders it rather the dewey
- archive - not published material
- library - published
- brick and mortar reality to an archive (not pure virtual)
- talking about it in relation to organisation / but also there is question of power of access / gatekeeper
- point is that we will need to apply a different method of accessing / searching when using archives (compared to libraries) as they are accessed differently
- surrogacy: what is an original? today we like copies, we think of them as being useful.
- digitisation processes
- money, power, etc
- archives -> state / nation building --> even church was doing this
- newspapers - pdf ocr - things missed out: compositor (context of what was around this article, what else would be seen by a real reader of newspaper with many articles), marginalia, emphasis, etc
- Qn to ponder: what is a public record?
Public Records
- public interest, clearly important, to governments, related to the public affairs
- https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/what-is-the-foi-act/
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/legislation/public-records-act/
- Public Records - "extremely accurate and almost valueless" (as a definition) - it is basically defined by the Public Records Acts
- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
- 5 year weeding through materials - if they are useful keep, if not useful destroy - a system of reviews / 25 year second weed of material --> designated places of public deposit (local record offices) - see: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/our-archives-sector-role/legislation/approved-places-of-deposit/ (eg: records of surrey might be kept in surrey)
- WHY ARE MOST BOAT RECORDS AT Greenwich , National Maritime Museum? - cos boat stuff seems more suitable there
- WHY IS INDIA OFFICE RECORDS IN BL: Kew rationale that anything outside of English, Latin, French - they have no specialisation, so they gave it to British Library.
Online searching
National Archives Research guides!
- How to look for: Abbreviations in merchant seamen’s records (DECODED!) - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/abbreviations-merchant-seamens-records/
- How to look for: Crew lists and agreements and log books of merchant ships 1747-1860 - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/crew-lists-agreements-log-books-merchant-ships-1747-1860/
- Great list of other maritime history records held by other archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/maritime-history-records-held-by-other-archives/
- Royal Museums Greenwich / National Maritime Museum - http://collections.rmg.co.uk/archive.html#!asearch
Notes
- DEBBIE'S NOTES: copies of letters, drafted until perfect....