Research & the community

Historical research in the Williams Valley or anywhere for that matter is a case of systematically sifting through what is available. The specific and potential sources for this research have been discussed elsewhere but an equally important question is how to widen the research net as far as possible?
By this question is meant – How to make people understand that history is not to be found in books written by others, but is in themselves; that each of us is a maker of history and so has something to contribute to the telling of that history?
Practically what this means is how to get people to tell their stories, to reveal their objects and documents, and how to get it all recorded and written up before it is too late?
  • Donations – what lies in the bottom of the cupboard?
  • Research yourself – getting people involved
  • Oral history – the history within us all
Barriers to history – historians and historical societies?