archival research

[pongo]

Hello,

I am going to an archive for the first time. Do any of you have advice on how to do archival research? I think most people go and take pictures and then review the material later. I'd love to hear about organizing material, taking notes at the archive and then at home while reading through the material, if there is a recommended digital organizing program, etc. I am hoping that this archive leads me to a research topic (it has to!).

Thank you!

p

[Bearcat1]

A couple suggestions, which may or may not be useful depending on where you are going. First, know what you're looking for. Or at least have an idea. A lot of the people who work in archives aren't even aware of a lot of stuff they have, so if you know what to ask for, it will be that much easier for them to help you find it. I have taken pictures while I'm there, then organized the photos in order into a PowerPoint, which I then convert to a PDF so nothing can get lost or out of order. It works pretty well, and then of course you still have the individual pics to refer to. When you take pictures, include the front and whatever kind of title page you can (or the box they came from, etc.), so you know where things came from, and, this is the biggest thing I've screwed up, make sure you get the page/folio number in the pic. If you have to take pics out of order, make a note about it so the order makes sense to you later. And maybe write down where you located the materials within the archive so that you can easily find them next time (or know where they were, in case they move). This is all based on foreign archives, and I hear in the US things are much more organized, but hopefully this will help a little.

[lafayette]

All of the tips above are great.

One more suggestion: talk to the archivists there. The archive likely contains more there than you can gather from catalogues (particularly those digitized). There might be lots of material that has not been processed yet or has not yet had a finding aid written for it. You should know, generally, what to ask for, as was mentioned above, because yes, the archivist might not know everything that is there when asked for too broad a range of materials. But, if you suggest topics or certain materials, they might help you make connections to other materials that you wouldn't have put together from just browsing catalogues. Archivists can be an awesome resource, and they might steer you in a direction you weren't expecting -- in a good way!

Edited October 26, 2012 by lafayette

[Bearcat1]

But, if you suggest topics or certain materials, they might help you make connections to other materials that you wouldn't have put together from just browsing catalogues. Archivists can be an awesome resource, and they might steer you in a direction you weren't expecting -- in a good way!

That is excellent advice, and should be number one. My research is a little outside most everyone's radar, and I forget that even though most archivists don't know about it, they can be a wealth of information for less obscure things. Plus, people like to talk about what they know, and making friends with the archivists never hurts (I've gotten photocopies of things that weren't supposed to be copied, and had items pulled from other people's stacks that way).

[TMP]

Remember, just have FUN! Take the time to read anything that looks interesting even if it is not related to your agenda. Archival research can be trustratung if you are going to approach it with a black and white view of everything that you do from your agenda to your note taking. Be very flexible.

Always say please and thank you and try to get names of people who helped you. You'd be surprised how little civility they recieve.

[LadyRara]

If you don't need to take pictures, then don't. There are so many variables that can go wrong. I always used notecards. I made a notecard with the collection citation. Then on one side, I wrote pieces which stuck out and then on the other I wrote a reference number for the notecard with the collection citation. It made it easier to incorporate into a paper... physically manipulating the information that is.

Archives are so much fun! Don't hesitate to give an update of how great it was! :-) Good luck!

[runaway]

Re: taking photos in the archive--

I'm a photography hobbyist, so I use Lightroom anyway, but have found it's very useful for organizing archival photos. If you can upload batches from your camera to your computer as you go, it's easy to use Lightroom to tag each batch according to the archive's organizational method. Then later as you go through the photos, you can tag further based on keywords relevant to the content. You can use a similar method with other (less expensive) programs, too, I'm sure. I also take careful notes on paper just in case anything happens to my computer, and back up all my images remotely.

I've also found it's easier to use the images I take with just my iphone than my DSLR, fyi. I'm tempted to invest in a point-and-shoot with more megapixels just for archival use, although I haven't really had problems yet with my iphone images.

[pongo]

Thanks so much for the replies! Hopefully I'll find a good topic.

[Riotbeard]

1. I would say, that the whole take a bunch of pictures and look at it later approach is not the best if you don't have a strong sense of your topic or what the sources are like. My dissertation project has really developed working with the sources and in the archive, and then adapting to changes on the spot. Photographs can be great if you know what is in the source, etc. and it is just an in and out type experience, but if you want the archive to "speak to you," i would say it can be very helpful to hunker down and work with sources while you are there. Also, above all else, get to know the archivists. You will know the library's collection (as a whole) as well as the archivists and they can point you to whole new sources and types of sources. The source backbone of my work was pointed out to me by an archivists who knew my interests and showed them to me. 3. Bring a jacket and dress comfortably. 4. I think TMP is right, have fun. The archive can be very boring, but it is made up for by that one big find.

[turnings]

Didn't Braudel use the photo approach for The Mediterranean?

[annieca]

I worked at an archives this summer so here's what I observed worked best for people -

BE NICE to the archivists. We have rules for a reason. And sometimes if you are exceptionally polite we feed you cookies when the staff brings them in.

Ask if there's a photo stand. You usually get better pictures that way anyway.

I also second, third or whatever round we're on to asking the archivists. Sure, it might be an obscure topic but generally a combination of all the archivists will know the catalog forward and backward.

Wish you luck and have fun!