From oracle bone to citable evidence

01

Identify the material in front of you

UNESCO's oracle-bone page offers an overview and captions identifying institutions and publication numbers for selected objects. These can locate material; graph-by-graph reading still requires plates, transcriptions and scholarship.

Keep page title, caption and visible object in separate fields. A category such as oracle-bone inscriptions is broader than an individual catalogue identifier. Record the face or orientation of each image, including uncertainty.

02

Keep four layers of records

First record visible marks, cracks, loss and layout. Then transcribe line by line, marking uncertainty. Add punctuation, interpretation and supplementation in a third layer, and your research claim in a fourth. Preserve locators between layers.

For unfamiliar graphs, attribute an editor's reading and cite it. Avoid completing a sentence from visual resemblance or modern meaning alone. Where readings differ, record their consequences for interpretation before choosing between them.

03

Build a reviewable evidence card

Choose a captioned example from the source. Record the institution, publication number and URL, then separate information explicitly supplied from information still to be checked. Leave unknown image sides, full transcriptions or dating grounds unresolved.

Form a narrow question, such as the basis for punctuation in a particular transcription. List the evidence it requires and identify what the present page does not provide. This turns a broad interest into a workable research task.

SOURCE RECORD

Source and connections

The recording steps, exercises and reflection are institute-authored teaching suggestions. Material descriptions draw on the linked source; citation implies no institutional affiliation or endorsement.