INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL
ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS
Archival records might include documents such
as letters, reports, files, photographs, films, audio recordings, maps
and even computer records. An archival agency or institution preserves
those records which have enduring value and are worthy of long-term preservation,
including those of individuals, institutions and governments.
Most archival materials are unpublished
and are often referred to as primary documents.
Reading archival documents (or any historical
material) requires a certain amount of critical analysis. In general, you
should looking at a document for (a) what material/information it provides
and (b) the manner in which it provides that information. Here is a short
series of questions that you should keep in mind as you read an archival/historical
document.
- What type of document is it? For example,
newspaper, letter, memorandum, map, telegram, diary, report, drawing.
- A phone book is different than
a diary. Thus, one can expect to extract different kinds of information
from different kinds of documents.
- Does the document have any unique physical
characteristics? For example, handwritten, typed, colors, signature or
notations.
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What is the date of the document?
- Who was the author of the document?
- Until you know this you know
little about the document. Sometimes you can figure this out from the document
itself.
- Was the author a political or
private individual?
- Was he educated or not?
- Did the author have a particular
bias or motive in creating this document?
- Where and how did the author
get his information?
- Was s/he an eye-witness or a
second-hand witness?
- What are the basic assumptions made by the
author?
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For example, did he assume that
the reader could understand certain foreign or engineering terms?
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Why was the document written?
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Everything is written for a
reason. Is it just a random note, or a scholarly thesis or a political
memorandum?
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Who was the intended audience?
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This will tell you about the
author's use of language and the knowledge that he assumed on the part
of the reader.
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What is the story line or the main point?
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What is going on in the document?
What did you learn in reading it?
- What can you learn about the society that
produced this document?
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All documents reveal information
about the people who produced them. It is embedded in the language and
assumptions of the text. Your task in this course will be to learn how
to "read," or analyze, a document to extract that information.
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Does this information in the document say
more about the author or the subject of the document?
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Can you believe this document?
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Is it reliable? Is it likely?
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Finally, What does this document mean to you?
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This is the "so what" question,
but it still requires an answer.
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