In writing about the lumberjack culture in Northwoods Wisconsin, Historian

Eldon Marple writes that,

the recording of history is a newspaperman’s job at the time of the events

chronicled. Writing historical articles or books is essentially a
rearrangement of the facts as they were reported at the time according to
the importance assigned to them by later judgment. The historian is
actually a plagiarist since he has culled his facts from other sources. His
excuse for existence is that he sorts out what he thinks might interest a
new reader, puts it in his own words and, too often, claims credit for
furnishing the original information. The chaff he leaves for future times
and historians” (Marple).

cull:
1. to kill a number of animals in a group to prevent the group from becoming too large.
2. to collect information, ideas, etc., from different places.

chaff
1. the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.
2. worthless things; rubbish.