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Encyclopedia of Local History.
Edited by Carol Kammen and Norma Prendergast. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2000. Appendices, photos, maps, illustrations, ix + 539 pages. $79.95 Cloth.
Reviewed by Cynthia B. Malinick, M.A., Director, Coronado Historical Association and Museum of History and Art, Coronado, California.
With over 125 librarians, curators, business owners, museum directors, and professors of art, history, anthropology and archeology writing concise definitions and essays, the Encyclopedia of Local History is an excellent resource for anyone looking into the past. From Adventists to Zouaves and advertisements to zoos, this reference book is a wide-ranging compilation of terminology specific to the worlds of geneological and curatorial research as well as archeological techniques and guidelines. Editors Carol Kammen and Norma Predergast have also included a thorough list of place names, organizations, associations, and directors of programs relating to the ever-growing field of local and regional history, both in North America and abroad.
With expertise in local and art history respectively, Kammen and Prendergast set out to "present ideas to consider, sources to use, and historical fields and trends to explore," and called upon colleagues to contribute to the digest. With that expansive goal in mind, they collected a myriad of writings covering such broad and varied subjects as Chicano history, copyright law, health care, and tourism, as well as more narrow focuses including Farm Security Administration photographs and diseases such as diphtheria. A true benefit of the Encyclopedia is the inclusion of esoteric topics like gravestone inscriptions and mug books, making a bit easier one's foray into the historical unknown.
Authors generally used a colloquial approach to convey their knowledge, rendering the compendium quite "user friendly" for even the newest of historians. This informal style sets the stage for a sensible and practicable handbook that certainly researchers will rely upon for many years to come. More than an encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Local History is also a glossary, a lexicon, a thesaurus, and a gazetteer.
Throughout, the Encyclopedia also presents recommendations for further reading, web site and e-mail addresses, and a cross-referencing of related subjects. Appendices of ethnic and religious groups, and state historical organizations and National Archives and Records Administration addresses and phone numbers provide additional and important information. Not included however, was a bibliographic appendix of the countless publications cited, arranged either by author or subject, which would have proved invaluable to those seeking more in-depth information on their specific topic. Illustrations and photographs were few and far between. For instance, a photograph of the Newberry Library would illustrate both the library's architectural significance as well as its phenomenal primary source holding. An illustration of Civil War Tax records which are sometimes quite ornate would offer a novice researcher some indication of what they have found in the archives. Scanned images of documents, letters, diary entries or little known tools of the trade would have added to the overall effectiveness of the Encyclopedia as a research tool.
Kammen and Prendergast have produced an admirable work in the Encyclopedia of Local History. It can and should be used by every sort of historian - archivists and registrars, historic preservationists and scholars, lecturers and academics. The editors are to be congratulated for undertaking such a sizable project, and moreover, for its quality and thoroughness.
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