Description |
1 online resource (xviii, 276 pages) : illustrations, maps |
Series |
Approaches to local history |
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Approaches to local history.
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Contents |
Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Author's Preface; Editorial Preface; Chapter 1. The Why and How of Studying History; Written history; Getting at the ordinary; Changing how we see; Being a stakeholder; Microhistories; Directions; Journeying back; Sources and choices; The purposes of this book; Research methods; Data and handling them; Handling numbers; The products of research; Chapter 2. Given in Evidence; Asking questions; The four roles of oral evidence; Talking to older people; The elders; Oral testimony |
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The nature of memories: landmarksChecking the answers; But what time are they talking about?; The limits: just how early do people's memories go?; The interpersonal connection; Is anyone there?; Factors that determine success; Tackling larger places; Going to town: bricks, rubble and words; Districts in the memory; The big city; Taking oral evidence in practice; Using a notebook and pen; Questions: subjects civic and personal; About the place; About the people; An important point; By correspondence: phone calls and letters; Archiving your notes; Preparing to build on oral evidence |
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Chapter 3. That Which is WrittenChoosing and using documents for study; The identity of documents; Document evaluation; Sources: primary and secondary; Put up in type: secondary copies of primary sources; Terms of evaluation for documents; From the spoken word to the written word; Documentary verification of oral statements; Ada Chard; A railway story; Mother-in-law's story; Using documents; Local people: the need for nominal lists; Records of events; Chapter 4. Notes, Notebooks and Archives; Data, information and knowledge; Writing it all down: the matter of keeping records |
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On the spot: using a field notebookTactics in note taking; On the spot: using a camera; What is done with it all when I get home; Notes; Supplementary research materials; Maps; Photographs; Cataloguing; Computers for local history; What do I mean by 'a computer'?; Getting a microcomputer for local history; Portable computers and electronic notebooks; Moral and practical support in computer use; Choosing a printer; So how may the computer be useful?; Structuring and storing information; Databases; A data filing system in operation; Dedicated database software |
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What other database software could I use?Searching the files; Larger numbers of records; Types of fields; Dates: you may be troubled; Maintaining several databases in parallel; Contemplating something even bigger; Databases of a rather different kind; Other modes of database; Text databases; Easy to use freetext databases; Trees; More remarks about structured database design; When creating a database; Detaching the discussion from computers; Records of people; Deciding if linkage is real; Family trees and charts of descendants; The problem of tracing forwards from an individual |
Summary |
This practical but inspiring book considers what local history is, why researching it is valuable and rewarding, and how we should go about it. Issues addressed include: getting oral and documentary evidence; keeping records; the nature of data, information and knowledge; and their use to create the different products of local history research. Michael Williams is both a professional scientist and a local historian of long standing, and he uses both sides of his experience in a text that is at once rigorous about the historical process, and also a fascinating - and often moving - account of hi |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
Notes |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
Subject |
HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain.
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Research -- Methodology
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Lokale geschiedenis (wetenschap)
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SUBJECT |
Great Britain -- History, Local -- Research -- Methodology
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Great Britain -- History, Local
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Wales -- History, Local -- Research -- Methodology
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Wales -- History, Local -- Historiography
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Subject |
Great Britain
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Wales
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Genre/Form |
Local history
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Form |
Electronic book
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LC no. |
95045476 |
ISBN |
9781317900320 |
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1317900324 |
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9781315846255 |
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131584625X |
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