Every week we’re sharing excerpts from our exclusive interview with Neil Schlager. Today we learn about the inspiration behind Schlager Group’s focus on primary source documents.
“When I decided that Schlager Group should start creating and publishing our own content, around 2008, I gravitated toward my own interests and background, namely History.
“Primary sources are the coin of the realm when it comes to history education, and they are a big part of what makes reading and learning about history so interesting. So much drama and subterfuge and courage and backbiting, all jumbled together! History is the story of humankind, after all, so what else should we expect?
“Since then, we’ve retained our focus on primary sources and gradually built up the content that is now housed in the Schlager Digital Library. Among the many things we’ve learned in the process is how many sources are NOT, contrary to popular belief, easily available on the Internet. In fact, many important sources are scattered among scads of archives as well as monographs and magazines published by many different publishers (some now defunct). Working with scholars to unearth a compelling, contemporary list of sources on a given subject, and then to add critical commentary, is super-interesting and rewarding work.
“Part of our mission, when building a ‘contemporary’ list of sources on a subject, is to make sure that those sources reflect the highly diverse, multiracial society in which we all live. One of our faculty collaborators once said to me, ‘It’s so important that my students are able to see themselves in the historical sources I teach with.’ That is a striking statement and a daily reminder of the importance of history education—and the fact that how we do this as a publisher makes a difference.”