Southern-Trails-L Archives

From: "" <>
Subject: [SouthernTrails] Re:Correction by Larry
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 12:10:31 -0400
In-Reply-To: <200105031501.f43F16L11262@lists2.rootsweb.com>

5/3/01 11:40am EDT

Judy & all,

>The Mary who sent the info I posted earlier which Larry states has some
>mistakes was a librarian. I assume she fould the info in a history book.
>She was a very careful researcher but research is only as good as the
>sources and she may have used some sources with errors.

The point that she was making that she had figured out that "TN was
settled from Nashville East" gave me the most trouble. Nothing that I have
every read or seen has ever suggested that.

As for history books and accuracy: if no one today can really agree with
what happens around us on a daily basis, it is very dangerous to rely on
history books for what one would consider to be "absolute" facts. Every
writer writes from their point of view and knowledge base. No person can
possibly have all of the facts, therefore, all written history is
distorted, if not by inaccuracies, then by omission. One needs to
consider: was the writer a trained historian or an amateur? Writing from
personal experience, or simply copying what others had written (without
verification)? Did their writing show bias (local historians can be
notoriously biased)? I once read a county history book written by a person
living in that county and mention was made of what most historians would
classify as a very minor battle as "one of the most important battles of
the Revolutionary War", a considerable exaggeration.

>This is a good reminder that anything anyone gives us should be a starting
>point for research and we should always verify it ourselves. I am glad
>Larry was alert and pointed out some things that at the least need more
>research before they are accepted as fact.
>
>Judy

This especially true of what one finds on the Internet and on mailing
lists. A book publisher puts its reputation on the line when it prints a
book....subject to all manner of public review and embarrassment if it
contains gross errors. Fortunes can be lost and businesses ruined if a
reputation becomes tainted. Not so with Internet content.....anyone can
publish anything without concern about censure. With free web sites
readily available, a person does not even have to spend money to "publish"
and can easily hide their identities, or distort them to imply
credibility.....and no entity (government or otherwise) can police all of this.

Remember, just because you read/hear it doesn't make it true......if you
can't personally verify the information in some way, and especially if you
can't verify the source (know the identity of the "speaker") to ascertain
their reliability, then put it in the "rumor" file.

Thanks, Judy, for that reminder.

Larry

This thread:

• [SouthernTrails] Correction by Larry by Judy Oldziewski <>

  • [SouthernTrails] Re:Correction by Larry by "" <>