This page will explain the historiographical terms used throughout the site. If the definition you're looking for isn't here, I apologise. Please email me with your query, and I can add it to the ever-growing list.

Archive: A collection of documents and records.
Autobiography: An individual's account of their life.
Bibliography: A list of works, including books, journals and essays, on a particular subject.
Biography: An account of an individual's life, written by another person.
Book Review: A critical examination of a text, usually including a summary of the work and opposing views.
Context: The background and specific circumstances of a subject, such as an author's lifestyle, or the weather during a train crash.
Discipline: The study, or practice, of a subject using a specific set of methods, terms and approaches. History is a discipline, as is Archaeology, Chemistry or Biology.
Encyclopedia: A written reference work, composed of informative articles arranged alphabetically. These can either focus on a particular subject or, in the case of the Encyclopedia Britannica, on everything.
History: Either the study of the past, or the product of our attempts to understand the past.
Historian: An individual who studies the past.
Historiography: Either the methods and principles used in the study of history, or the written result.
Interdisciplinary: The study, or practice, of a subject which applies the methods and approaches of several disciplines. For instance, while History, Literature and Archaeology are separate disciplines, they can be combined.
Journal: A periodical which normally deals with a specific issue, for instance, National Geographic.
Past, The: Events which happened previously in time.
Primary Sources: Material from, or directly related to, the past. In History, primary sources are usually letters, records or other documents created during the period that is being studied, such as diaries, legal notices or accounts. However, primary sources can include photographs, jewelry and other items.
Reference Work: A text, usually in the form of a dictionary or encyclopedia which contains facts and information, but not normally discussions.
Secondary Sources: Material created by somebody removed from the event being studied - who was either not at the event, or was working later. For instance, all historical textbooks are secondary sources.