I'm sorry if it doesn't fit here because it's not a question about an specific event in history. I want to know how can an average person can help preserve history for future historians or ordinary people.
For example, if there's only one narrative on a topic, it could be easy to someone to alter even unintentionally. But if there are several sources, we can get a more comprehensive idea of how events unfolded. This doubt came into mind when reading about one of the most documented historical events and its atrocities, and how there are large amounts of people denying it ever happened several decades later.
I'm an average Joe with a computer, smartphone and internet. Can I keep (legal) copy of local documents and share them over a network? Can I back up documents about other countries' past events being denied in their nations? Is there a way to contribute to it locally ?
Thank you historians!
Is there a way to contribute to it locally ?
I would recommend getting in touch with a local history society! They are usually very happy to take volunteers, and they can give you an idea of what projects they feel need attention in your area. They might need help with a digitization project, cataloguing their collection to make it searchable for future researchers, or even doing oral history interviews in your community. If you live in the US, there are usually state historical societies, and there are often much more local ones for cities, towns, or counties. Talking to the people there is the best way to get an answer for your question.
Oral history interviews are a particularly cool way to contribute for future historians. For example, my own PhD research involves going through oral history interviews recorded from the 1940s through the 1980s about the experiences of women who worked as herring gutters. The technology of fish gutting changed dramatically in the 1960s, so I'm really interested in learning about the experiences of women who worked in the industry before that and who saw the transition. However, if it weren't for local history societies recording interviews with elderly people in their communities, so much of this information would be lost. You asked about how to make sure that multiple perspectives are represented on an issue: interviewing people and allowing first-hand perspectives to be recorded are a great way to do this.
Of course, there are ethical issues involved with ethnographic interviews, but your local history society will likely have experience with that and be able to talk through any particular issues. For example, you may need special permission to carry out interviews with people classed as vulnerable (such as very ill people who may find extended communication difficult). If you wanted to get involved in preserving the record of people with ties to traumatic historical events, such as forced migration, fleeing as refugees, or a violent crime, it is a good idea to read up on the ethics of ethnography since it is really important to ensure that you are not leaving someone to stew in painful memories that are then whisked away by a researcher. That's just a heads up, though -- there are plenty of projects you can get involved in that won't be so tricky to navigate.
There's lots more other than oral history that you can do to help preserve local history, but as it's a type of resource that I'm making ample use of in my own research, I wanted to give it a special plug! Communities are always changing. What seems everyday and not worth recording to you may be a precious resource for future researchers. By connecting to the people in your area who are already working on local history, you can find out which aspects of change in your community are already being documented and how, and then see how you can contribute! And if you feel something important is being left out, you can then suggest it to the network you've created, who will have better resources and infrastructure to carry out preservation work than any individual.