[This guest post comes from my colleague Mike Limberg, a grad student in the UConn history department working on early 20th century U.S. foreign relations. He offers a guide to good archival practices that serves as an excellent primer for those new to archival research and a good refresher for those of us who end up kicking ourselves for the sloppy research practices of a few summers ago. Not that I know anyone in that situation. Ahem. Just a reminder that this blog is always open to submissions from graduate students, and we welcome posts on just about any topic relevant to the experience. Simply email us at digitalgradlounge@gmail.com. -Erin]
Thanks to Erin and Mary for letting me
guest post! Much as I'd like to run an academic blog of my own, I've
discovered that finding the time and energy to do so is really hard.
Hopefully I will make a contribution here every now and then.
This year, I've had the pleasure to
serve as the semi-official mentor to a couple of new grad students
who also work with my adviser (part of an initiative which our
History Graduate Student Association has helped encourage for at
least the last few incoming cohorts of students). I found myself
talking about archive strategies and etiquette with them recently,
and thought it might be a discussion worth moving to a larger forum.
Using archival sources is integral to being a history graduate
student, but I've found that learning how to find and access archives
can be very opaque or haphazardly taught. I sort of learned as I
went, starting with a few days in the National Archives as an
undergraduate where I really had no idea what I was doing. I took a
long time and a few different research projects as an undergraduate
and a graduate student to understand how archives worked and evolve
better systems for keeping track of what I found. As a result, I
wanted to share some tips for things I've figured out how to do and
ask for tips from others to get new ideas as I look ahead to a summer
of dissertation research.
Finding Archival Sources
Figuring out what primary sources
exist and where they are can be easy... but might also require a lot
of time searching online catalogs, talking to archivists, and
emailing to find privately held collections. The nature of history
research varies widely enough that I will stick to generalities here.
Archives come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from the big
institutions that most of us use to local historical societies to
individual people who can contribute oral histories and their
personal collections (Archive Stories,
edited by Antoinette Burton, is one volume that pushes historians to
expand the definition of an archive, think about how archives are put
together, and examine who shapes what materials end up in
collections. It would be really interesting to hear from some
colleagues who have worked in acquisitions and collections management
to hear their perspective for a future DGL post!)
The easy first step is to mine the
footnotes and bibliographies of the secondary sources you're reading
as background on a project. That gives a sense of what others
working on an established topic have used, which you might be
revisiting or re-reading from a new angle.
Spend some time searching Google and
the WorldCat catalog for the names of people or organizations you've
identified. WorldCat includes listings for a number of archival
sources. Google can turn up a ton of unrelated material, but can
also turn up collections that authors in the pre-Internet days
missed. Older published primary sources that once you may have had
to request via ILL or visit a reading room to view are increasingly
available via Google Books as well.
Investigate databases and search
programs. ArchiveGrid is one potential useful database for finding
material; it's dedicated to collecting and and collating information
about the location of sources. A beta version is accessible for free
through their website. Your institution's library likely subscribes
to a number of databases dedicated to finding or presenting primary
sources, such as scanned copies of newspapers or state papers. Check
these out, and ask questions of your library's history specialist if
you have one. He or she may know of databases that exist but your
school lacks the money to subscribe to; these may be something you
can check out by visiting a larger, better-endowed school nearby.
Check out the institutions people are
involved in. Famous people often donate their papers to their alma
maters or, if they've worked for an important organization or
government administration, have materials as part of those
collections. Individuals may have papers as part of this sort of
collection without it being immediately apparent via web search.
A tip throughout your search, and
through the following steps- keep track of where and how you search
and what you identify as a possible source along the way! This can
keep you from replicating too much of your earlier steps if you have
to search over multiple sessions.
Archive Pre-Planning
Once a useful collection is located,
start planning what a visit to that archive would entail. Check the
archive's website for their hours of operation and any potential
disruptions- holidays, renovations, etc.- that might affect when you
visit. Look to make sure there are no special restrictions on the
collection you hope to examine, like requirements to get prior
permission from the collection's source. Note their policy on scans,
copies, and digital camera use (more on that later). Often reading
rooms are open to the public, but other times accessing an archive
requires prior appointment. Many archives store the majority of
their materials off-site, so even if you can freely access the
reading room you may need to request materials online or by phone at
least a day in advance of your visit.
Selecting Materials to Examine
You've identified a relevant
collection of papers- great. Finding aids and help from archivists
let you figure out what you need to specifically examine, since
generally you won't have to look at everything a person wrote or an
organization saved. Most larger archives have lots of their finding
aids online, and this makes the process much easier. Established
collections of paper material are typically stored in folders within
archival boxes, or possibly in bound volumes. Often these are stored
off-site and must be requested in advance, which is why trying to
identify exactly what you need and planning ahead will be a vital way
to make your archive trip more productive. Try to correlate the date
range or correspondents or topics you know you're interested in with
the organization of items laid out in the finding aid. Sometimes the
only way to know for sure what you need is to look at a detailed
guide to the material when you get to the site. Trying to contact an
archivist to get help and advice in advance can be very hit or miss;
sometimes it might help you easily determine what to look at or even
lead to finding new collections, other times you may not even get any
response. But it is worth trying.
Basic Archive Procedure and Suggestions
This will vary considerably depending
on the archive, but the standard practice is for the researcher to
leave all items other than pencil, computer, and camera in a locker
outside the reading room. Once inside, you check with an archivist
or staff member to get your materials. If this archive does not have
an online request system, this may require filling out paper call
slips. The archive staff will retrieve your materials while you wait
in the reading room and deliver them to your seat. Rules generally
require that only one box be on the table at a time, and only one
folder out at a time. This ensures materials stay secure and helps
keep them in order.
Keep careful track of what items are
from which place. Create some sort of system to delineate folders,
boxes, etc. and information about author, date, and other information
for individual items. It's also not a bad idea to jot a few notes
about the main content of even areas of a collection you may not need
just then; you may need it down the line as your project evolves or
as you move on to another.
Digital cameras have changed how
historians work in archives; it's now more common to take as many
photographs as possible during a shorter time in the archive and go
through them in depth at a later time. Doing this is very depending
on the camera policy of the archive, however, so be careful to check
in advance. If you do take a lot of pictures, try to have some sort
of system that helps identify which images match which item. A
suggestion is to try to include the labeled edge of the folder of
documents, or include a piece of paper with that information noted.
Trying to match up pictures and items later on, particularly with
hundreds or thousands of images, is extremely hard to do. Back up
your photos frequently as you work, not just at the end of the day.
Also, bring two sets of spare batteries. It's really no fun to be in
the middle of a 100-page document and frantically trying to coax out
the last ergs of power with begging, pleading, and amateur voodoo.
Most researchers now use laptops to
take notes, so think ahead about your power supply needs and whether
any peripherals (like a mouse) would help. Save your working
documents often. Most archives also have wifi access available, so
uploading copies of your notes and photos to a cloud server every now
and then is a great idea; a portable flash drive is another option
for a backup. It's generally accepted and safe to leave your laptop
and materials at your place if you take a lunch or stretch break, but
check with the staff.
Be courteous and polite to the archive
staff. Express gratitude for their help with your research requests
and try not to get too torqued if something goes wrong or isn't how
you expected. This doesn't mean you have to suck up, but archivists
who like you or see you as a professional are much more willing to
help you and go the extra mile to make sure you get what you need.
They might even be much more willing to direct you to a good local
place for a bite of lunch when you take a break. Sometimes
archivists will be less helpful than you'd like, or even actively
impede your work despite your best efforts. But this is less common.
Dress professionally. This doesn't
mean you need a suit and tie or the female equivalent. Most archives
have no real dress expectations, and you will likely see the whole
range from suits to shorts and sweatpants (I was rather shocked about
this my first few days researching at Harvard). But looking nice is
a nice reminder to you that you're here as part of a job and give a
little boost of confidence to cover jitters about figuring out the
system. It signals to the staff that you are serious about being
there and working. There is also the chance you might run into
someone you know professionally, like a senior scholar whose work you
have read three times or a member of your own department's faculty.
Consider what would be comfortable to sit in for hours at a time, and
bear in mind that reading rooms are often fairly cold (though
occasionally too warm!). I usually go for dress pants and a dress
shirt, tie optional.
When you are done researching, let the
staff know you are heading out. If you will return the next day or
even within a week or so, generally the staff will keep your
materials in the reading room for you so you don't have to request it
again.
Good practice is to spend a few
minutes as soon as possible after finishing work going through your
notes and files. Make sure everything you produced is saved and
filed somewhere you can find it. Make a backup copy or two. Try to
take a few minutes to jot some summation notes about the types of
material you went through that day, what seemed most important, what
preliminary conclusions jumped out. This will be really hard,
particularly after an 8 or 10 hour day staring at documents and even
more so if you then have a long commute back home or to your hotel.
I really don't do a great job of this yet myself, particularly on
days when I travel to archives in Boston. But it's a great way to
jump-start your thinking and analysis.
So there are some tips. I don't
pretend to know all the tricks, and would love to hear from others
about their suggestions for what else should be added to this guide.
But hopefully this is something that might be helpful for grad
students just starting their archival work, or even for advanced
undergrads.
"Try to take a few minutes to jot some summation notes about the types of material you went through that day, what seemed most important, what preliminary conclusions jumped out. This will be really hard, particularly after an 8 or 10 hour day staring at documents and even more so if you then have a long commute back home or to your hotel."
ReplyDeleteMike, I think this is one of the most important things we can do, and I'm not great at it either. What I've found most helpful is jotting my reflections down in my research journal by hand, as soon as possible, especially if it's a long research trip. If you have a commute on public transit, that's a great time. Even if you don't look at those again till after your research trip is over, you've gotten them down on paper. (And because I'm a Luddite, I still use paper.) I think it helps capture the connections you're making when you're in the thick of it, which you might not remember later without a reminder.