Doing History: A Guide for Students
● It is not enough that we know our history. We must also realize that agents of social change, we can
contribute to the narrative of the nation by participating in writing about our PAST and Present.
Doing Historical Research Online
CYBERSPACE
● it is a place where virtual data is passed around and stored.
● it is where individuals share information. Exchange ideas, and communicate with each other right
in the comfort of their own homes.
● nowadays, cyberspace has its big role as an instrument in doing historical research.
Where do you look?
● Search engines like Yahoo! Or Google could lead you to a lot of sources with right search strings.
● The more refined your search string is, the more definite the results will be.
PLATFORMS
● Google also provides its own customized platform for scholar research (Google Scholar) and
Google Books for sources of scanned books.
● WIKIPEDIA is the biggest open source encyclopedia in the whole cyberspace
● PROJECT GUTENBERG is the oldest digital library in the world with 50, 000 items in its collection.
Doing Historical Research in Libraries and Archives
● Search engines like Yahoo! Or Google could lead you to a lot of sources with right search strings.
● The more refined your search string is, the more definite the results will be.
PLATFORMS
● Google also provides its own customized platform for scholar research (Google Scholar) and
Google Books for sources of scanned books.
● WIKIPIDEA is the biggest open source encyclopedia in the whole cyberspace
● PROJECT GUTENBERG is the oldest digital library in the world with 50, 000 items in its collection.
Doing Historical Research in Libraries and Archives
● Libraries and archives still provide a wider variety of sources in different formats such as books, old
magazines, newspapers, old photographs, audio recordings, video recordings.
● THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILIPPINES provides a rich treasure trove of materials for the student –
researcher interested in Philippine History.
● THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE PHILIPPINES is an agency of the government mandated to collect, store,
preserve and make available records of the government and other primary sources pertaining to the
history and development of the Philippines.
● CEBU CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY last March 10,2018 it made history as the first public library in the Philippines
that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can now study with unlimited time.
OPAC
● In this system, instead of going through each entry with on physical index cards, a simple search will yield
the holdings of the library related to what you are searching for.
Doing Life Histories and Biographical Research
● Life and history is an oft- neglected sub-discipline of history because it is a seen as trivial to larger
narratives of nations, societies and civilizations.
● However, students of history should realize that the individual is as significant contributers to various
historical breakthroughs across periods of time.
Doing Local and Oral History
LOCAL HISTORY
● Is the study of the history of a particular community or smaller unit of geography.
● One important historical method to local history is oral history.
● Why study and do local history?
● In the first chapter, it was discussed how history could serve as a repository of collective memory.
Such memory is important in forging of national unity through identification with a common
collective past.
● Importance of Oral History
● It is important in the midst of scarcity in the written sources, historical documents, and other
material evidence.
● This method uses oral accounts of historical subjects witnesses, members of the communities
and the like.
Historical Shrines and Museums
● This is where we can experience history. These venues provide us a certain level of authority and
trustworthiness that could impact the way we view the past.