REGIONÁLNÍ DĚJINY - Stav, problémy a výhledy
Local History - Situation, problems and perspectives

Summary/Abstract: The text published here was prepared and given to those participants in the 8th Congress of Czech Historians in Hradec Králové on September 10–12, 1999, who took part in the discussion in block C concerning local history and perspectives of European historiography. The authors paid attention to the state, problems and perspectives of local history research in the Czech Republic and arrived at the following conclusions: 1. In spite of indisputable achievements and several valuable works in local history, it is necessary to face the facts that some of the presented outcomes are still of poor quality, the co-operation among local experts, specialists and research centres is not always ideal, the informational basis and especially the sources are not sufficient in completeness, and that many works are adequate in proficiency but still keep within the framework of somehow rigid chemes. It is mainly the general sharing of information and liaison between historians and local publicists that have to be improved at present. More active connection with the teaching of history and geography at schools is also important. A special attention should be paid to the journals of national history and geography and to the rather poor quality of tourist guides. 2. At present, new important tasks and perspectives are opening to local historiography. They result from globalisation and ecological horizons that reflected in the birth of environmental history. Nevertheless, the local research traditionally connects scientific and humanistic disciplines with the intention to reach a relativelycomplete picture of the world around us on both the closest and larger scale. In this respect the local history is close to such disciplines as history, geography, historical geography, demography and even to historical ecology, and in a certain sense to national historical geography. 3. It is also important to open the horizons, in the field where the growth of information is enormous, to new kinds of media and means of communication. They must be reflected in local historical knowledge and in more concentrated incorporation into all information streams. In such a flood of information local historiography can stand up well only if it does not just gather and spread given facts, but also concentrates on the selection of the most important but, at the same time, to the people closest things where the data of too specialized branches of science are joined in one entire picture. 4. Local history should more considerably, directly or by means of publicity, enter into the real life, the area of management, public administration, education, tourism, conservation of monuments and nature etc.

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