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Historical Sources. Universität des Saarlandes FR 3.4 History, FR 4.7 Linguistics Seminar: NLP/Text Mining for Historical Texts M. Schreiber, C. Sporleder Wintersemester 2009/2010. Structure. 1. What are historical sources? 2. What kinds of sources do exist? 3. How to work with sources
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Historical Sources Universität des Saarlandes FR 3.4 History, FR 4.7 Linguistics Seminar: NLP/Text Mining for Historical Texts M. Schreiber, C. Sporleder Wintersemester 2009/2010
Structure • 1. What are historical sources? • 2. What kinds of sources do exist? • 3. How to work with sources • 4. Archives
1. What are historical sources? • Texts, facts and also objects that give information about the past → everything that tells something about the past → broader idea of sources • Only written texts and original documents → close idea of sources
2. What kinds of sources do exist? • Written sources (contracts, chronicle, letters…) • Audiovisual sources (speeches on TV or on the radio…) • Material sources (coins, pictures, clothes…) • Oral-history (interviews…) • Abstract sources (language, customs and traditions…)
Kinds of sources: Code Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, Frankfurt am Main 1577 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/De_Constitutio_criminalis_Carolina_%281577%29_01.jpg/400px-De_Constitutio_criminalis_Carolina_%281577%29_01.jpg (21.02.2010)
Kinds of sources: Coins Roman Denar (Marcus Antonius) 32 B.C. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Denarius_Mark_Anthony-32BC-legIII.jpg (21.02.2010)
Kinds of sources: Caricature David Low, In: Evening Standard, 20.09.1939 http://www.lsg.musin.de/Geschichte/Material/Karikaturen/hitler-stalin-pakt.jpg (21.02.2010)
2. What kinds of sources do exist? • Primary sources → first-hand information, original source • Secondary sources → they relate to primary sources and usually quote (lost) primary sources
3. How to work with sources • Question(s) to the source → What do you want to find out? • Verification of sources - Description - Interpretation
Verification of sources • Type of source • Time of origin, place, author • Context • Information in the text • Auxiliary sciences of history might help to work with sources
4. Archives • How to keep historical sources? • Private (unpublished sources) or public/official in archives • Their function is to keep original documents, to preserve them and to make them available for public • They have to follow certain rules, for example a retention period
4. Archives • Federal archive (different locations in Germany) www.bundesarchiv.de • State archive (Saarbrücken-Scheidt) www.saarland.de/landesarchiv.htm • City archive (Saarbrücken) www.saarbruecken.de/de/kultur/stadtarchiv
Locations of the Federal archive http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aufgaben_organisation/dienstorte/index.html (21.02.2010)
State archive Saarbrücken-Scheidt http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Saarl%C3%A4ndisches_Landesarchiv_01.jpg/469px-Saarl%C3%A4ndisches_Landesarchiv_01.jpg (21.02.2010)