How can I use the database?

The GaW database does not answer any research questions. However, with its help you can search, present, and compile data, important steps in building a foundation from which to answer research questions.

A woman sewing

In working with source material, a historian must always use source criticism. A database is an added layer between the original source and the individual researcher, a condition that must be approached with an additional battery of source-critical questions (for example, questions regarding selection). At the same time, GaW can be used as a tool for source-critical analysis. The user has access to both the original source material, as well as documentation of the registration process. Furthermore, GaW presents the opportunity to compare and contrast different sources.

When considered alongside the individual source, the database has a substantial added value due to:

  • the amount and variety of data collected
  • the classification of this data

The contents of the GaW database reflect the sources that are registered within it. This reflection, of course, is dependent upon the research project Gender and Work and also, to a certain degree, upon the interests of the individual researcher. The over-riding advantage of GaW is that it can systematically demonstrate the ways that a variety of source material contributes to the emerging picture of the past. Moreover, it is always possible to return to and check the original source material.

Read about sources in GaW

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Contact

  • Are you interested in using GaW to analyze and/or to make your source material accessible? Please contact us!
  • info.gaw@hist.uu.se

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