Prasa w warsztacie badacza historii miast

Abstract

In the 19th and 20th century newspapers were the main tool for social communication. Now, they are an indispensable element of a town historian workshop. For academic research everything from articles, announcements, notices, advertisements, obituaries, to iconography is of great use. The study of press allows for a closer look at social, political and moral changes, transformations of modernization, spatial and architectural nature, as well as numerous other phenomena and processes occurring in urban space. Nowadays, using this particular source was made particularly convenient, mainly due to the digitalization of various newspapers now available online. What did not change however, is the need for different approaches and solutions enabling the critical external and internal analysis of press. The present article deals with the selection and analysis of the most important methods to be used in queries and research in press studies. Moreover, it aims at pointing to the crucial threats and challenges to be faced by a researcher engaging in such work.