26 May 2014 Beginning researchers often anticipate a three-step process: 1. Gather information. 2. Organize it. 3. "Write it up." One critical step is missing from this progression. EE would add ...

25 May 2014 When a clever quote is attributed to a famous person, it's tempting to just grab the quote and run with it. That's why we see ...

24 May 2014 Among the county level records of Cayuga County, New York (for example), we find a volume labeled "Homestead Exemptions, 1851-1966." One hundred and fifteen years is an inordinately long span of years for one record book at ...

23 May 2014 "War ration books and tokens were issued to each American ... dictating how much gasoline, tires, sugar, meat, silk, shoes, nylon and other items any one person could buy. ... Even chicken wire fencing was rationed. ..." Have you ...

22 May 2014 Some practitioners of the law have a concept that's equally useful to historical research and writing: counteranalysis. Putnam and Albright's guide to legal research defines counteranalysis this way: "It is the process of ...

21 May 2014 Imply or infer? The differences in these two words have implications for the historical researcher as well as the grammarian. ...

20 May 2014 Our Tuesday's Test for 6 May was a bit of a stumper: What records can we use to trace the urban poor? Given that EE is all about sources and evidence, not just citation formulas ...

19 May 2014 WWW-land is truly a wonderfully wacky world. We find gorgeous sites filled with garbage. We find tacky pages filled with Gospel Truth—or as close to it as any historical researcher can get. How do we ensure that our online efforts are healthy ones?

18 May 2014 "When you catch an adjective," Mark Twain supposedly wrote to a twelve-year-old boy, "kill it. No. I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." Constance ...

17 May 2014 A YouTube video for history researchers suggests that church records be considered vital records. EE gasped: Hunh? Aside from the fact that churches rarely maintain records of births and deaths ...