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Book Cover
E-book
Author Williams, Michael A. (Michael Arnold), 1936-

Title Researching local history : the human journey / Michael A. Williams
Published New York : Longman, 1996

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 276 pages) : illustrations, maps
Series Approaches to local history
Approaches to local history.
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
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
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
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
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
Print version record
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain.
Research -- Methodology
Lokale geschiedenis (wetenschap)
SUBJECT Great Britain -- History, Local -- Research -- Methodology
Great Britain -- History, Local
Wales -- History, Local -- Research -- Methodology
Wales -- History, Local -- Historiography
Subject Great Britain
Wales
Genre/Form Local history
Form Electronic book
LC no. 95045476
ISBN 9781317900320
1317900324
9781315846255
131584625X