How Do Historians Read Historical Documents?

"Simon Bolivar 'The Liberator' from fotopedia.com by dbking.

Historians read historical documents by finding out what kind of source it is, thinking about the purpose of reading it is, making predictions, and taking note of things that happen throughout the document. Ways to take note of things are making bullets, writing short summaries each few sections of a document, and underlining or highlighting important ideas.

How Do Historians Write History?
Historians write history by communicating to other historians about the topic they want to write about. They can also study sources, and write about that topic on what they think is most accurate within those sources in their own words.