Data Source
This menu is intended to allow users to make data outputs more consistent, though this will be at the expense of chronological coverage. By limiting sources to types which contain similar data or data structures, users can ensure that the responses to queries are more directly comparable over time. However, as no source type survives for the entire time span recorded in the database (1769-1794), restricting source types will inevitably create gaps in the data. Fortunately the richest data source for most of our purposes (the Day Books) survives for the bulk of the period covered in the project, and gaps in the Day Books are mostly filled by the second best source, the Stock Books.
data source
nature of the data
why switch it off
Day Books The Day Books are our preferred source for any time period. They are in theory complete and consistent in recording STN sales, purchases and counter transactions. They also contain extra data such as routes, ballot numbers, and middlemen. This second sort of data has been recorded where available.
The only reason for turning this option off, would be to facilitate analysis of the data contained in another specific source type. This would only be helpful for asking very advanced and specific research questions.
Stock Books The Stock Books are our second most favoured source. They are used as our main source for periods when the Day Books are not available. The Stock Books are in theory complete and consistent in recording STN sales, purchases and counter transactions. They do not contain the ancillary information found in the Day Books, but the edition information they supply is often more complete.
The only reason for turning this option off, would be to facilitate analysis of the data contained in another specific source type. This would only be helpful for asking very advanced and specific research questions.
Order Books The Order Books (Livres de Commissions) have been used as our main source for sales in the brief periods when no Day Book or Stock Book survives. They give us the books that were sent to the STN’s mail order clients. However, they do not contain some local customers, job-printings, retail counter sales etc. They also do not contain any information about the STN’s purchases.
Turning this option off helps to make the data from the Day Books and Stock Books more internally consistent, provided that you also turn off the Letters, Durand Sales Tour and Other Accounting Documents options. You may also want to turn off the Derived Data option. By switching off this option you will create a chronological gap in the main sales data.
Letters Letters from book trade clients have been used to supply ‘solid accounting evidence’ only about STN sales and purchases for periods when no Day Books or Stock Books survive. They are an incomplete supplement to the Order Books. It should also be noted that Letter dossiers are incomplete and that some data may not be recorded due to issues of presentation, legibility, or interpretation. Note also that correspondence in the STN archives mysteriously dries up from 1787-8.
This option might be turned off to increase data consistency, especially if the Order Books option has also been turned off.
Durand Sales Tour This source type relates to only a short period in the STN’s history. The Durand Sales Tour dossier records sales and purchases handled by letter by the STN agent Durand while away from Neuchâtel on a business tour lasting from when he left Berne on the 29th July 1787 to his arrival in Lausanne on the 19th November 1788. The data it contains are less solid than for other periods, and do not cover all the STN’s trade in the period. He did however issue instructions about many transactions at a distance. He is our most significant source of information for a period for which Day Books, Stock Books, and Order Books are lacking.
Users seeking internally consistent data might want to turn off this option and rely only on the Day Books and Stock Books options. It might also be turned off to conduct advanced interrogation of another source type.
Derived Data These are data derived from close scrutiny of sales for STN editions for which no direct evidence on print runs exists. They are necessarily approximate both in terms of date and number of books printed.
These data are not directly derived from the archival record. Users concerned with data purity may wish to turn off this option.
Other These miscellaneous documents are the most irregular and inconsistent data source, both for content and survival. Most exist only for brief periods or incidents in the STN’s history. We have used them to fill in gaps in the data record and to provide the most complete possible picture of the STN’s trade, but at the expense of introducing distortions into the dataset.
Switching this option off will increase the internal consistency of the data returned by searches. It is recommended that this option is switched off for any searches which rely on internal consistency. In comparison, keeping it on would allow the widest possible view of the STN’s trade as accessible from surviving documentation.
