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Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources…
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Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace

by Elizabeth Shown Mills

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Evidence Explained guides you through a maze of sources not covered by other citation manuals - all kinds of origianl records, accessed through different media. A thousand citation models for US and international documents demonstrate how to handle the quirks that stump us when we use those materials. Evidence explained is the go-to guide for everyone who explores the past.
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2 vote | LisaEllam | Mar 7, 2010 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
The real draw of this book to me is is it explained Primary documentation quite well in under one chapter. SO many of our researchers can't wrap their mind around that basic and important concept to the point that I've had important figures in the community try and use second hand trivial newspaper stories told 80 years after the fact as Primary research! ( )
1 vote mighel | Dec 4, 2009 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This book seems to be a first-rate handbook about evaluating and citing evidence, intended for historians and genealogists. I am neither, but my mother did some genealogical research and my education was mostly in the sciences, so I appreciate the difficulty and importance of questions of evidence.

The Foreword begins with the statement "All sources lie" by 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Fascinating to see the intellectual kinship between T. E. Lawrence and Dr. Gregory House. The first chapter is a concise, lucid exposition of epistemology applied to historical evidence. Points to the author for including references to two books by Joe Nickell about photographic evidence and detecting fraud.

The rest of the book is an extensive discussion of types of evidence, such as artifacts, government and church records, and various publications. To show how complete it is, one can learn here how to cite Frakturs and samplers.

One thing I learned from this book was the word 'presentism': interpreting the past through current ideology or opinions. The example given is that the phrase 'free people of color' did not mean just African Americans: it included Native Americans and other ethnic groups. Another thing I learned was how content analysis can help detect fraud: forgers often include extra detail to make their documents plausible, and this extra information can be tested for accuracy (p. 32). Finally, I learned that there is such a thing as negative evidence: some states will issue a Certificate of Failure to Find if a search for a death certificate does not reveal one (p. 463-4).

The astute reader will see a problem with the book: it discusses how to cite online data such as web pages, blogs, etc. Since the book dates back to 2007, it is already being overtaken by technology. For example, a future edition will probably mention Facebook and YouTube explicitly, as well as photos taken with cell phones. In other words, to be most useful, this book should be available online, with updates more than once a year. I don't see a reference to an online version mentioned in the book itself.

Otherwise, the book is quite complete. The only other thing that I did not find therein was a discussion of how to cite cuneiform tablets. ( )
2 vote bertilak | Jul 26, 2009 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
A very useful book for researchers. The author provides an exhaustive list of resources (online and off) for verifying data. Aimed at historical research. ( )
  bookdoctor | Jul 23, 2009 |
Signed by author
  ddugle | Jul 21, 2008 |
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Dedication
In memory of
Grady McWhiney
Mentor & friend

Who taught me to probe the past carefully
and report it as it was, not as I wish it were
First words
Foreword

All sources lie.
Lawrence of Arabia

Sir Lawrence's hyperbole is understood by all who seek to recontruct history. Sources err. Sources quibble. Sources exaggerate. Sources misremember. Sources are biased. Sources have egos and ideologies. Sources jostle for a toehold in the marketplace of ideas.
Fundamentals of Evidence Analysis
——

Basis Issues
1.1 Analysis & Mindset

As history researchers, we do not speculate. We test. We critically observe and carefully record. Then we weigh the accumulated evidence, analyzing the individual parts as well as the whole, without favoring any theory. Bias, ego, ideology, patronage, prejudice, pride, or shame cannot shape our decisions as we appraise our evidence. To do so is to warp reality and deny ourselves the understanding of the past that is, after all, the reason for our labor.
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0806317817, Hardcover)

Evidence Explained is the definitive guide to the citation and analysis of historical sources. It begins with a simple question: Why do we invest so much of our energy into the citation of sources? Followed by the intriguing answer: Because all sources are not created equal. As a citation guide, Evidence Explained is built on this simple question and answer. According to the author, there are no historical resources we can trust at face value. Records simply offer evidence, and their assertions may or may not be true. To decide what actually happened, we must understand those records. To analyze that evidence and judge what to believe, we also need particular facts about those records. Thus, Evidence Explained has two principal uses: it provides citation models for most historical sources especially original materials not covered by classic citation guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style. Beyond that it can help us understand each type of record and identify each in such detail that we and our readers will know not only where to go to find our source, but, equally important, the nature of that source so that the evidence can be better interpreted and the accuracy of our conclusions properly appraised. Highlights Covers all contemporary and electronic sources not discussed in traditional style manuals, including digital, audio, and video sources Explains citation principals and includes more than 1,000 citation models for virtually every source type Shows readers where to go to find their sources and how to describe them and evaluate them Teaches readers to separate facts from assertions and theory from proof in the evaluation of evidence. Most importantly, Evidence Explained discusses source citations for every known class of records, including microfilm and microfiche, and records created by the new digital media: Websites Blogs Digital books and journals DVDs CDs Audio files Podcasts Everyone Needs This Book -Carry it around and consult it for the correct citation of any source you come across -Keep it constantly at your side to help you identify sources -Use it to evaluate digital and Internet sources -Make it your standard for citing sources and evaluating evidence in your day-to-day research

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:50:41 -0400)

(see all 2 descriptions)

History is not just a collection of documents-- and all records are not created equal. To analyze and decide what to believe, we also need certain facts about the records themselves.

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