Notice What an Archive Does Not Cover - Practice 1

Surviving records are not a complete sample of everyone who lived.

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Surviving records are not a complete sample of everyone who lived. Selection, loss and access can shape an archive. A missing record does not by itself prove an event never happened. All record sets below are fictional.

Worked example

An archive holding only property owners' letters cannot automatically represent residents who owned no property.

Three schematic surviving documents accompany a warning that archives can be selected sets. Missing evidence does not by itself prove an event never happened or a perspective never existed.

Would you believe it?

A flat world map cannot preserve every distance, angle and area everywhere. Choosing a projection means choosing which properties matter most for the task.

Question 1 Invented archive 1 preserves letters only from property owners. Which limitation matters? It may omit the perspectives of non-owners. It fully represents non-owners. Missing letters prove non-owners had no views.

Question 2 Invented archive 2 preserves letters only from ship captains. Which limitation matters? It fully represents passengers. Missing letters prove passengers had no views. It may omit the perspectives of passengers.

Question 3 Invented archive 3 preserves letters only from factory owners. Which limitation matters? Missing letters prove workers had no views. It may omit the perspectives of workers. It fully represents workers.

Question 4 Invented archive 4 preserves letters only from school leaders. Which limitation matters? It may omit the perspectives of all pupils. It fully represents all pupils. Missing letters prove all pupils had no views.

Question 5 Invented archive 5 preserves letters only from landlords. Which limitation matters? It fully represents tenants. Missing letters prove tenants had no views. It may omit the perspectives of tenants.

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