THE

MEANING
AND
RELEVANCE
OF HISTORY
 HISTORY
Greek: ‘historia’
A chronological order of significant events
A branch of knowledge that records and explain events
Historians
Goal: reconstruction of the total past of mankind
it is a goal that is unattainable

FACTS ABOUT HISTORY

Representative of something or mere symbolism only
Illusory or based upon personal considerations
Possibility of being untrue or biased
SOURCES OF HISTORY
What makes a good source of history?
Artifacts, relics, ruins, parchments, coins survived from the past.
HISTORY SOURCES
Unwritten Sources – anything that is not on print
Material – archaeological evidence
Oral – tales of ancient people
Written Sources – anything that is in print
Two Historical Sources
1. Primary Source
- Contemporary accounts of an event, personal written or narrated by
the person who has directly experienced or participated in the said event.
- Aside from testimonies, eye witnesses, primary sources include
documents or objects created in the time of the event
- Account that are considered original document: diaries, letters,
memoirs, journals, speeches, oral testimonies, manuscripts, interviews,
official records, etc.
PRIMARY
SOURCES
PRIMARY SOURCES
 SECONDARY SOURCES
- They serve as interpretations of primary sources
- It is the testimony of anyone who is not eyewitness
- Usually it contains the personal insights and interpretations of the author
- Usually contains digestion of primary sources by experts, academic and professionals
- In the form of published works, academic journals, articles, reviews etc.
- They can also be based on interpretation of the other secondary sources or a
combination of primary source data and secondary source data
- At the present times, most of the sources of historical records are under this category
such there is a great tendency that the original substance of the historical records is
compromised

Evaluation of Sources
1. How does the author know the given details? Is the author present at the event or how
soon is the author on the scene of the event?
2. Where does the information come from? Is it a personal experience, an eye witness
account, or report made by another person?
3. Are the author’s conclusions based on a single piece of evidence, or many sources have
been taken into account?
EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY
SOURCES
 Bibliographs
 Biographical works
 Commentations, criticism
 Dictionaries, Encyclopedias
 Histories
 Journal Articles
 Magazines and Newspapers
 Monographs
 Website
 Textbook
 External and Internal Criticism
External Criticism –
is the establishment of authenticity to ensure that the
documents are nor mere forgeries or inventions; subject to
physical and chemical tests.
Internal Criticism –
is the establishment of accuracy; the purpose is to evaluate
the accuracy or worth of the data.
Repositories of Primary Sources
 National Archives of the Philippines
 National Library
 National Historical Commission
 National Museum
 University Libraries
 Liberty of Congress
 American Historical Collection
 Malacanang Museum
 CHAPTER
2
ANALYSIS OF
SELECTED
PRIMARY
SOURCES
Primary sources Can be
analyzed and evaluate by
different criteria. These
criteria are:
 Context analysis
 Contextual analysis
 Author's main argument or
point of view
- the complete
knowledge about the
past through credible
and reliable resources is
essential to the
understanding and
learning of the students
of their own history.
Contextual
Analysis
 Thorough knowledge
of what the source,
who produced it,
where, when, why it
was produced.
 Contextual analysis
consider's the following

1.Historical context of the source

- that is the times it was written
and the situation at a time
2. Author's Background
- intent and authority of the subject
3. Source Relevance
- what is the importance of
the written work of the author
 5 Characteristics to look for
when selecting primary
sources:
1. Bibliographic Information
2. Creators Name and creation/
publication date
3. Time and Topic in your classroom
4. Contextual clues
5. Extraneous markings or
annotatation
CONTENT ANALYSIS

- is a research method for

studying primary sources
such as document, and
communication artifacts
which can be text of various
formats, pictures, audio or
video
 According to Klaud Krippendorf,
Six questions must be addressed
in every content analysis

1. Which data are data defined?

2. How are data defined?
3. From what population are the data drawn?
4. What is the most relevant context?
5. What are the boundaries of the analysis?
6. What is to measure?
AUTHOR'S POINT OF VIEW

- understanding the author

of or the writer's underlying
point of view will help you
interpret the context of his
writing. It will also help you
made decision they do.
 Some Questions in critically
analyzing ir examining the author's
main argument and point of view

1. What is the author's main objective in

writing the article, book, etc?
2. Does the author's seek to persuade,
convince, to identify problem, or to provide
a solution?
3. What forms or evidence used by author?
4. Are important facts or perspective
omitted? what is left out?
5. Is the author credible- to whom?
6. Does the author consider alternative
position and perspective?