Water crisis of the Nile River. A case of Ethiopia and Egypt

Sources

Two ways to classify sources: two or three cat.

Three categories

1) Primary sources

Time dimension: Materials part of or produced by the event.

Audience dimension: Materials intended for internal or
restricted audience.

Ex.: Paris Peace Conference negotiations, 1919-20

Minutes of meetings

Diplomatic correspondences/cables

Treaties (exception on audience dimension)

Sources

The centrality of primary sources

They are oriented towards action.

They are not dedicated to historians, political scientists, or
to popular consumption.

They are facts in themselves, not their representation.

Problem with primary sources

Difficult to access: research trip and closure period.

Difficult to find: classification (if any) of record repositories.

Not always complete.

Language.

Sources

Four issues to be cautious about regarding
primary sources

1) Authenticity

Is it the original document or a copy? Has it been
corrupted? Is it a fake?

Is it possible to authenticate the author/source?

Pay attention to the context of production,
similarities/differences with related documents, the
credibility of the record repository.

Ex.: Zinoviev Letter, 1924

Sources

2) Credibility: once a document is authenticated

Was the author sincere in writing the document?

Is the content of the document accurate?

Pay attention to the context of production and to possible
vested interests of the author.

3) Representativeness

Is the document representative of the totality of relevant
documents?

Be aware of the fact that your document is only one among
many others.

Sources

4) Meaning

Is what I understand in line with the thinking of the author?

Be aware (through research, movies, music,…) of the
socio-political, economic and cultural context in which the
document was compiled.

Sources

2) Secondary sources

Time dimension: Materials related to or produced soon
after the event.

Audience dimension: Materials generally intended for the
public contemporary to the event.

Ex.: Paris Peace Conference negotiations, 1919-20

Media coverage of the conference

Opinion polls

Government publications, Parliamentary
documents/debates