This week I dove into using the Endnote application. Since I had already finished adding all the pdf files to Endnote, I began writing in the keywords. Now, the purpose of writing the keywords is that in the future when all these letters are on a database with the intention that other people might be able to use them for research, we as the P.R.I.N.T. team must come up with the words someone might use to find the ideal document in such a database. One example would be that if someone wanted to learn more about family dynamics, all the letters between close family members would come up.
What is tricky about writing the keywords, is that it typically requires the person doing this to have some context about the letter. While some of the letters come with thorough abstracts, some do not, so it might require further transcription work, which can make the entire process quite time-consuming. Something especially tricky about the documents I am working with is that the majority of them are in languages such as Dutch or German. Unfortunately, I cannot read Dutch or German, though I am starting to pick up a few words here and there. This means in most circumstances I have to rely on the abstract in their original database. However, they are all housed in a virtual database that is in Dutch, so while Google Translate is helpful, there are questionable translations at times. One of my saving graces has been that some of the documents in my assigned database have been translated in a book called The Documents of Brotherly Love. So, this week, I focused mostly on documents with this translation, that way I could use the added advantages while I was at least learning.
However, I learned very quickly that sometimes the documents don’t give me enough information, and I have to do extra research to find the context I need. For example, when reading an exchange of letters between the Prince Elector of the Palatinate, I couldn’t be sure of what the prince’s true feelings about the Anabaptist people were. When people wrote to him with concern for the welfare of the Anabaptists, it seemed they did not want to directly offend or accuse him, so I could not be sure if he or his government was responsible for Anabaptist persecution. I had to look up his religious affiliation and ask Dr. Beiler about it. It was only after that, that I learned about his personal feelings and I could add the sub keyword of unsympathetic head of state, one of the listed standardized keywords the team has created.
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