Four Types Of Documentation That Guides Narratives

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Peter Pappas, a professor at the University of Portland, identified four types of documentation: Published Documents, Unpublished Documents, Oral Traditions & Oral Histories, Visual Documents & Artifacts. This list is significant because these are the kinds of "documents" that make history.... become HISTORY.

These are the areas THAT ALL DOCUMENTATION will fall into as you learn to document properly. By reading each type, you will be able to identify where your project "primarily" fits. His descriptions are EXCELLENT! But because of copyright, I cannot repost his information here.

Please go to his web page and read these brief, but thorough definitions BEFORE moving forward. It will only take you about 15 minutes. You do not need to skip this part of the lesson.

Now, take a look at your scribal project, and consider the following?

Identify what area the "scribal project" you are working on falls into based on categories of documenting presented by Professor Pappas. I believe my project concerning my sister falls into two categories: Oral Histories, and Visual Documents & Artifacts because I am video recording her journey, allowing her to tell her story with her own words. I am also documenting her journey through captioned photographs, receipts that show some nurses had to purchase their own protective masks; and I am collecting and identifying official documents and objects surrounding her employ as a registered nurse. I am also collecting statements from her co-workers.

Describe how you believe your project can contribute to a "historical record?" For example, I believe the project chronicling my sister's experience as a nurse during COVID-19 will contribute to what life was like for an African-American nurse in pre-and-post COVID working in a rural Georgia hospital that is barely equipped to fix broken bones. Her record serves as a narrative within the story of our state.

Not only do these areas provide insight into where our scribal projects might fit, but they give us a clear view of where primary sources and secondary sources fit. How has this understanding impacted how you view YOUR efforts to document your project? Share your comments below.

Finally, after viewing these categories it becomes clear "HOW documenting can guide the "historical narrative" of nations. If all you have are documents from one group, then the only artifacts available will lead people in the future to interpret those artifacts based on that one view. However, when there are numerous records that are well documented, then the opportunity opens up for a broader interpretation of history.

Understand that what you DOCUMENT becomes a historical record - whether for your family, a particular group, the nation, or the world!