Please read the basics of this database before using it, and please read the details before writing me asking me to update it. But please do notify me of anything you're sure I should update.
This, of course, is the basics.
This is a database I'm creating for several reasons. Its purpose is to provide people who conceive an interest in regions' ancient history with up-to-date ways to get basic information or to dive into the field. For basic information, a section on "periodisation and terms" and a set of "introductory" references; for research purposes, a section on "sources" and a set of "research" references. The bibliography is annotated (to varying degrees) and hyperlinked in its HTML version (there is also a plain text version).
In general, since I expect to cover the entire ancient Old World up to AD 700, or perhaps AD 1000, in this database, I'm being extremely selective. I only want things that are geographically specific to a given area (or sub-area). I am building a comparable database for languages and literatures, for example, where resources specific to those will be listed, as well as a more closely similar database for some (though not all) ancient political organisations; there will be (superficial) pages listing those resources covering larger regions which I've decided really need to be listed. Online references, being relatively few, I'm including relatively freely; also because I'm updating only every five years, or less often, and there have to be a lot of links if any of them are still to work by then!
References are chosen on a number of conditions: introductory ones should be in English; research ones should provide guidance to the literature; both should be readable and recent... I am finding that few regions offer such references for all the relevant periods, and you will notice examples of compromises.
Please let me know of things that need changing. I'm not a scholar by trade, have learned much of what I know about doing historical research while working on this document, and while I don't expect to change the style, I do want to be sure the content is accurate.
Created August 23, 1999. Does not require regular updates.
URL: <http://turing.postilion.org/these-survive/regions/basics.html>
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Copyright 1999 Joe Bernstein. Electronic transfer permitted.