2005 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Historical Databases
This chapter explores the creation, analysis and dissemination of databases based on historical sources. A step-by-step approach for the creation of databases is provided, taking readers from the original source to the completed database. The second section of the chapter concerns data analysis and information retrieval covering querying one table or more than one table; sorting and viewing information; using statistics; and grouping and cross-tabulating information. The key methodological problems facing historians translating sources to database are outlined and the chapter ends with a brief discussion of some of the recent developments in database technology.