Ask an NEH Expert: About Editing

Sometimes the hardest part about sharing your research is deciding what not to include. In this video, Heather Bender, Native Education Outreach Specialist at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Dr. Alvin Logan, Jr., Director of Education and Affiliate Curator for African Culture and Education at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and Dr. Brian P. Jones, Director of Center for Educators and Schools at the New York Public Library explain the importance of editing when working on a research project.  

Questions for Analysis and Comprehension 

These questions can be used before viewing the video to brainstorm ideas and preview the concepts discussed in the interviews, or after watching as a way to reflect. 

1. How can limiting the scope of a story make connections more apparent? 

2. Why is community collaboration important for making storytelling and editing choices? 

3. What comes first: thematic decisions or curatorial decisions? Can these decisions be made simultaneously? 

4. Why are focused inquiry and well-designed questions important for research and storytelling? 

This video is one in a series on historical research and writing developed through a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities and National History Day.