The historian

• History


  The study of the past
• Source


  Provides information about people, places, or things from the past
• Prehistory


  The time before writing was used
• Archaeology


  The study of physical remains left by people
• Studying history


  • Helps us understand how human experiences shape society and the world
  • Helps us learn from past mistakes
  • Helps us be inspired
• Historical consciousness


  Placing ourselves in past experiences, connecting the past, present, and future
• Historian


  An expert or student of history
• Archaeologist


  Investigates ancient sites and objects, including those from before written records
• The job of the historian

  1. Gather evidence from multiple sources

  2. Cross-check information using multiple sources to verify
• Archive


  Stores written and other types of sources
• Museum


  Collects and displays objects
• Primary source


  From the time of the event (e.g. roman coin, viking's helmet)
• Secondary source


  Created later (e.g. documentary, history textbook)
• Accuracy


  Assessing the correctness of information
• Bias


  When an account unfairly favors one side
• Exaggeration


  When something is overstated
• Propaganda


  Aims to influence public attitudes
• Types of historical sources

  • Written (diaries, letters)
  • Visual (photos, posters)
  • Aural (recorded interviews)
  • Oral (interviews by researchers)
  • Tactile (artifacts)
• Chronology


  Orders events as they happened
• A decade is 10 years, a century is 100 years, and a millennium is 1,000 years
• New evidence can lead to reinterpretation, viewing events in a new light
• Historical repositories


  Store and maintain evidence of the past, such as artifacts and documents
• Examples of historical repositories

  • National Museum of Ireland
  • National Archives of Ireland
  • Titanic Belfast