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Directories have had a somewhat chequered history, both in terms of their original production, and also in their subsequent use as sources of information. To a large extent these two aspects are closely related, as is illustrated by the reluctance of some urban historians to use directories because of doubts over their reliability. A further factor determining the extent to which directories have been utilized, has been the availability of other information. In Britain it has been the relative abundance of small area census data that has had an important effect on directing research in urban history, by drawing much attention away from the exploration and use of other sources. This is certainly the case with directories, which for many researchers have served only as a 'stop-gap', being used when nothing else was available and then often with a sceptical attitude. Recently, some of these views have started to change as a growing number of urban historians make more use of directory material, particularly in the study of urban systems and changes in commercial structures.

The paper aims to reveal how the two Olympic Games (the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in July 2021 and the Beijing Winter Olympics in January 2022) were reported, that is, if, how, and why sentiment expressed towards the two hosting countries differs, and the implications. We conducted a study of 108 articles from six English-language news media publications to uncover repeated patterns of representations that may lead readers to form a preferred reading and interpretation of the two nations through the lens of COVID-19 and the shared international experience of sporting competitions. To understand how their representations were formed and worked, we turned to Said's Orientalism and the related notion of "the Other." We hope the study will contribute not only to a more nuanced understanding of the rising anti-Asian sentiment in the West, but also to the theorisation of the evolving notion of Orientalism, especially during the pandemic period.

This article stresses the need to develop a more systematic approach to data sources in a context of greater European comparative study. The work and initial findings of the European Directories Project to provide a resource guide of one universal European data source, the town directory, are outlined here. Pathways and mechanisms of directory evolution are considered with special reference to Germany. This is succeeded by a discussion of the problems associated with the compilation of a pan-European directory database and the potential difficulties associated with directory use in urban historical research.