“Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You” is an expansion of a text David Kyvig and Myron Marty put together for history students and curious amateurs. Their intention was to provide a basic understanding of the actual “how to” questions about historical research. After explaining “Why Nearby History?” and “What Can be Done Locally?” they begin step-by-step instructions on actually doing historical research. The first step they cover, forming a question, is a surprisingly inclusive listing of possible beginning points for research. Once the question is formed they explain where and how to find information, written, audio, visual and material information, and how to interpret it. Finally, after a strangely placed chapter on historic preservation, they discuss the process of writing out the results of your research.
Only one thing prevents me from giving this book my highest praise. It was published in 1982 and beyond forming the original question almost everything in the book has been made obsolete by the Internet. The information in the book is not wrong, all their advice still works, but today there are better ways to find almost the information they cover. The American Association for State and Local History, the copyright holder, would do well to update this valuable but technologically outdated book. ( )