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chal 5
Chapter 5: Doing History – A Guide for Students
- Importance of knowing history and contributing to the narrative of the nation.
- Focus on applying skills in writing history.
- Methods: online research, library/archival research, biographies/life history, local/oral history.
- Interaction with history through shrines and museums.
Learning Objectives
- To manifest interest in local history and cultural heritage.
- To apply historiographical methods in writing the history of one's locality or country.
- To incorporate technology in the discipline of history.
- To appreciate the value of doing history to the present day.
Doing Historical Research Online
- Internet as primary means of research.
- Danger of plagiarism when appropriating ideas.
- Importance of treating online information as sources and analyzing them.
- Search engines: Yahoo!, Google.
- Search strings: refined combinations of words for relevant results.
- Google Scholar: electronic journal articles, institutional repositories, book chapters.
- Google Books: scanned books, preview chapters.
- Wikipedia: 40 million articles in 293 languages (2017), open source, unreliable but useful
launch pad.
- Project Gutenberg: oldest digital library (1971), 50,000+ items, includes Doctrina Cristiana,
travelogues (Jagor, de Comyn, Virchow, Foreman, Worcester), Austin Craig’s Rizal biography,
Blair & Robertson’s *The Philippine Islands: 1493–1898*.
- Internet Archive: 279 billion web pages, 11 million books/texts, 4 million audio recordings, 3
million videos, 1 million images, 100,000 software programs.
- Philippine government websites: enriched with laws and issuances.
- Media websites: archives of articles, digitized or physical copies for older issues.
Doing Historical Research in Libraries and Archives
- Libraries/archives as repositories of primary and secondary sources.
- Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) replaces card catalog system.
- Refined search strings needed to limit results (e.g., “Philippine Revolution,” “Emilio Aguinaldo”).
- Materials: books, journals, maps, photographs, audio/video recordings, microfilm.
- National Library of the Philippines: Filipiniana section, Rizaliana collection, Blair & Robertson
sets, rare Filipiniana, Presidential Papers.
- National Archives of the Philippines: government records, Spanish colonial materials, staff
assistance.
- University of the Philippines Diliman: Gonzales Hall, Filipiniana section, serials, theses,
dissertations.
- Ateneo de Manila University: American Historical Collection.
- University of Santo Tomas: collections from the sixteenth century.
- Private libraries/institutions:
- Family History Center (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
- Chinben See Memorial Library (Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center).
- Archdiocesan Archives of Manila.
- Local archives, museums, public libraries.
Doing Life Histories and Biographical Research
- Life history often neglected but individuals contribute to breakthroughs.
- Examples:
- Jesus Christ: influenced the whole world, religion, wars, civilizations.
- Jose Rizal: novels inspired revolution, death as tipping point, influence limited to Philippines.
- Ordinary individuals should also locate themselves in history.
- Factors to study: family, education, peers, travels, affections.
- Context: Rizal’s hometown Calamba, Laguna in the 19th century (livelihood, terrain,
agriculture).
- Family/genealogy: socioeconomic status, religious belief, character, interests, values.
- Questions: How did Rizal afford education? Who influenced him?
- Institutions: schools, organizations, fraternity, church, interest groups.
- Rizal’s education: Universidad de Santo Tomas, Ateneo Municipal.
- Propagandistas in Europe, La Solidaridad.
- Institutions shape individuals as much as individuals shape institutions.
- Other aspects: sector, ethnic group, culture, national history.
Doing Local and Oral History
- History subjects usually cover Philippine, world, Asia — broad strokes.
- Local history: study of communities, institutions, groups, heroes, economies, events.
- Importance: repository of collective memory, forging national unity.
- Warning: extreme nationalism → tragedies (WWII, Nazi Germany, North Korea).
- Local history balances tendencies, provides alternative interpretations.
- History from below: narratives from the people.
- Challenges: scarcity of sources for local heroes/events.
- Oral history: oral accounts from subjects, witnesses, communities.
- Relies on memory, sometimes passed from ancestors.
- Criticism: positivist historians see memory as faulty, oral accounts as supplements.
- Importance: oral history fills gaps when written sources are scarce.