© Copyright 2000 State University of New York & Ulster County Community CollegeIs Currency of the Work Important?
If so, periodicals and the Internet may be your best resources. If you are doing a paper from one of the sciences, current information is usually necessary. Historical papers, documents or speeches are obviously going to be "old," but there may also be a fresh perspective on your topic. Do not discount checking, even briefly, for information in current literature on your historical topic. Scholars continue to examine and analyze historical events.
While the Holocaust happened over 50 years ago, the anniversary of the end of WW II in 1995 created a huge amount of information from a more recent perspective. In fact, many survivors of the Holocaust were interviewed as part of the anniversary. And so, even the popular and current literature contains articles on something which happened over 50 years ago.
