Page 95 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

• ship plans, such as blueprints of the construction of a vessel, and models;
• logbooks, repair lists, lading bills (shipping receipts), muster rolls (name lists), passenger lists and cargo manifests;
• combat records, war diaries, regimental and vessel histories;
• ship records;
• lighthouse keepers’ logs and lifeboat records;
• port and customs records;
• insurance records;
• private letters, diaries, journals and company
correspondence;
• memorial plaques, rolls of honours, etc.
Not all archives possess catalogues and specific information is often difficult to track. Moreover, a vast number of websites contain information, which may be of interest, but needs to be controlled for merit, authenticity and quality. Many archives and libraries, however, have started to put amazing amounts of records on the web, creating a digital memory of the world. As with information contained in books, there are simple criteria that can help in assessing the reliability of a website: author of the page, date, URL, references to other sources, objective reasoning and fair coverage, reviews of the site, etc. Excellent sources available on the Internet can be museum and library databases, as well as official archives with online catalogues and academic journals.
Independent of the sour- ces consulted, a thorough and scientifically rigo- rous approach is needed to avoid gross errors and the perpetual pro- longation of myths that can be easily falsified. As any written account of an event always reflects a singular point of view, and is framed by the circumstances and the time, historic research
 © National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague. Map
of the Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan as included in the archives of the Dutch East Indian Company. Early maritime maps are a very important and international source of information. Ever more historical map collections are ac- cessible through internet.
This map of the Indian Ocean
is part of the archives of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) which are inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.
94
Preliminary work