Book recommendation

ciaobellaciao1

Hi, would any kind soul here be able to recommend a book that aids historians in their analysis of events through newspapers. Many thanks.

convert

I don't think there are any books which 'teach' historians how to analyse sources. And it's not really something that can be taught; it's a skill that you pick up as you go through school and college. If you're in college you should chat with your lecturer and/or tutor and ask them for a few tips, but really it's something you have to acquire through practice.

hivizman

The book Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts From Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century History, edited by Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann (Routledge: 2009) has a chapter on Newspapers. This chapter is fairly sketchy, but there may be some helpful pointers. Other chapters in the book may also provide some ideas.

I agree that the best way of learning how to identify, access and analyse sources is through practice, but increasingly historians are trying to move on from the notion that historical research is basically a matter of mastering a "craft" - methods of source criticism have been known to historians for many years, and historians are increasingly self-aware about their judgements.

Denerick

Depends on what period you are researching. There is a wealth of material in the newspaper archive of the National Library in Dublin from the early 19th century onwards. Actually researching it can be rather dry and time intensive, it depends on how much you hope to accomplish. Generally I picked a relevant date and scanned through the relevant articles in the days leading up to and after the incident in question. The art of 'skim reading' is something you'll have to learn when dealing with volumes of material of this nature.

Another fantastic resource for 18th century pamphlets and materials is an online database of 18th century writings. Your college will likely have it on their servers, its fully word searchable and an absolute godsend when meeting a tight deadline and on your 5th coffee

Denerick

convert wrote: »

I don't think there are any books which 'teach' historians how to analyse sources. And it's not really something that can be taught; it's a skill that you pick up as you go through school and college. If you're in college you should chat with your lecturer and/or tutor and ask them for a few tips, but really it's something you have to acquire through practice.

G.R. Elton's The Practise of History is actually quite useful for clearly stating the fundamentals and essentials of the historians craft. Although it is an anti postmodernist polemic, it offers insights I personally found useful.

Cavehill Red

Denerick wrote: »

G.R. Elton's The Practise of History is actually quite useful for clearly stating the fundamentals and essentials of the historians craft. Although it is an anti postmodernist polemic, it offers insights I personally found useful.

You say that like it's a bad thing...

Denerick

Cavehill Red wrote: »

You say that like it's a bad thing...

Haha, I knew what I was getting into when I started

convert

Denerick wrote: »

G.R. Elton's The Practise of History is actually quite useful for clearly stating the fundamentals and essentials of the historians craft. Although it is an anti postmodernist polemic, it offers insights I personally found useful.

When I said I didn't think that there were any books which could teach an individual how to research primary sources, I should probably have substituted 'I think' for 'books can't teach you how to reserach'. Yes, they can provide tips, but you can read up on something until you're bleary-eyed and still not be able to apply what you've read. I've seen it happen with so many students believe that reading about how to conduct primary source research is, from a lecturer's/tutor's/teacher's point of view, at worst a substitute for actually going into an archive, and at best a definitive and exhaustive guideline.

However, as the OP is in college (see other thread), their starting point really should be to contact their lecturer/tutor for guidelines relevant to their project.

brianthebard

agree 100% with convert, I did my MA on newspapers without ever seeking a book on how to do it, it just doesn't work. Reading other texts that are similar in aim to your own, and frequent conversation with one's supervisor is the best and really the only way to do it.

Denerick

I should state that I agree with the both of you. On the other hand it doesn't mean that some books can't or won't provide a useful insight. Historiography in general is interesting, all of it useful for broadening your perspective and improving your overall research capabilities.