How History Works
Primary sources, archives, dating methods and how historians reach their conclusions.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources: How Historians Tell Them Apart
What makes a source primary or secondary, why the answer depends on your question, and how to use both kinds of evidence without being misled.
Read · 6 min read →How History WorksHow Archives Work: Finding Aids, Reading Rooms and Research Tips
How archives organize records by creator, how to read a finding aid, and what to expect when you request boxes and visit a reading room.
Read · 6 min read →How History WorksRadiocarbon Dating Explained: What a Carbon-14 Date Really Means
How radiocarbon dating works, why raw results must be calibrated against tree rings, and how to read the date ranges labs report.
Read · 6 min read →How History WorksReading Old Handwriting: A Beginner's Guide to Paleography
Practical techniques for reading English documents from 1500 to 1800, from long s and minims to abbreviations, old money and Old Style dates.
Read · 6 min read →How History WorksOral History: How Interviews Become Historical Evidence
What oral history is, how practitioners plan, record and preserve interviews, and how historians weigh memory as evidence.
Read · 6 min read →How History WorksWeighing Historical Evidence: Bias, Corroboration and Gaps
A practical method for judging historical sources: analyze who made them and why, read their bias, corroborate, and account for what is missing.
Read · 5 min read →