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Introduction to Archives

Have you ever wanted to learn what an archive is, why you might want to use it, and how to get started? This is the place to start.

Archival Research Step-by-Step

First, you have to start with a question, which is likely going to change over time. Archival research is often evolutionary, with new documents sparking new questions or a lack of information requiring you to change paths. However, it is still good to start with an idea of what you want to know to narrow your focus.

If you’re not sure what you want to know, read some articles or books on topics that interest you. Pay attention to what you wish the author had talked more about. Some archival researchers will even mention topics they hope others will expand on, which can be a great place to find ideas for research. 

Once you have your question, try to assess if it is clear, specific, and potentially answerable.  Again, this question can change over time, but it’s best to come into your research with the strongest question possible. This is a stage where it can be helpful to talk to a reference or research librarian to help shape and refine your research question.

A good place to start is thinking about what entities could be connected to your question. If you’re curious about a community, you might think about organizations that serve that population or prominent individuals from that community. If you’re curious about how or why a local, state, or federal government did something, it might be helpful to figure out what department was responsible for that kind of decision making. If you’re curious about a person, who is that individual and who are their close associates and family?

Once you’ve determined whose stuff you’re interested in, it can be worth thinking about what kind of record the information you’re looking for might be in. Would it be in someone’s personal thoughts in their diary? Could it have been reported in the local newspaper? Might it come up in meeting minutes? This can help narrow down your search for collections once you transition to later steps.

First Place to Search

So, you have an idea of whose stuff you're looking for, which this will make your job of locating those records a bit simpler. If the organization or person is prominent enough, you may be able to simply Google the entity’s name followed by “archival records” and have a search result lead you to the archive that holds their materials. 

However, an even better place to start is Archive Finder and ArchiveGrid. Archive Finder and ArchiveGrid are specialized databases that specifically centralize the catalogs and finding aids from major archives across the U.S. (as well as some Canadian and European archives). Both sites allow you to keyword search the finding aids those archives provide and can locate relevant collections across the country. Another search tool to try is Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC), which tracks different individuals and organizations and links them to archival collections and items related to them. This can be a great way to find collections that are not as blatantly related to the entity you’re looking for that you might not have thought to search for.

Creative Next Steps

Google, Archive Finder, ArchiveGrid, and SNAC can be great places to start, but they aren’t perfect centralized catalogs of all archival holdings in the world. There are some archives that do not have their information in these databases, especially small and local historical societies and archives. So, you might have to be more creative with your problem-solving if you’re having trouble finding relevant collections

One place to start after you’ve hit the wall with the easier search options is the footnotes of relevant articles and books on the topic. What kind of sources did those researchers use and where did they get them? If those footnotes can lead you to one helpful collection, it might lead to an archive with more relevant collections. Reaching out to experts on the topic can also be fruitful, as they may know of collections that could be helpful to you that they didn’t use in their research.

If you’re looking for the records of an organization or individual who is still active, consider reaching out to them to ask if they’ve given their records to an archive. If an individual has passed away, it can also be worth reaching out to their descendants to see if their records were donated after their death. While it can feel weird sending an email to a stranger, they could be an essential part of tracking down the records you need. 

If you’re interested in a local topic, check if there is a historical society for the county or town. These local organizations might hold resources that you might not be able to find anywhere else. Local colleges and universities can be worth checking as well, as they may also hold materials relating to the town or region they're located in. 

And finally, when in doubt, reach out to a reference archivist or librarian. They may be able to direct you towards a collection or repository that will best support you or help brainstorm new ways to search. 

Now that you’ve found a few potential collections to use, review or request the finding aids for those collections. Finding aids are essentially guides to the collection and can provide useful information about the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the collection. However, while the entire finding aid can provide useful information (which will be discussed more in this guide), the box list at the bottom of the finding aid will be particularly helpful at this stage. The box list provides general descriptions of what is in each folder and box in the collection. You can then target what boxes and folders hold the things you want to look at and can ensure you are only looking at materials that might be relevant to your research question. This is a very important step because many archival collections are gigantic and if you don’t come in with a plan, you could end up wasting a lot of time and energy looking in boxes that don’t matter. 

Consider what records are likely to have the most relevant information, what archives have the highest concentration of collections relevant to you, what materials are likely to take the most time to go through. Aim to look at the most helpful collections first and try to rank the remaining collections in order of importance. Archival research can take a lot longer than you think, so prioritizing can help you avoid running out of time to look at the things that matter the most. 

Once you’ve prioritized, you can start placing requests for materials. Most archives have their own system for requests, so look for instructions on their website. If you’re unable to find instructions or their FAQ page, reach out to the archive to get clarification on their process for requesting materials. They may require you to make an appointment in advance.

You may also be able to order digitized copies of materials if you’re not able to travel to the archive. If offered, obtaining scanned materials is often a paid service, but it may be worthwhile inquiring about it if the archive is far away and you’re not interested in many items.

For your first visit to the archive, read through the later section in this guide on how to be a good archive’s user, as well as any available reading room rules the archive has on their website. 

As you take notes in the archive, be very thorough with your citations. What is the title, creator, and date of the item you’re taking notes on? What collection, box number, and folder number did it come out of? This will save you a major headache in the long run when you go back to list your citations. Some archives require particular citations formats for materials they provide access to, so check the finding aid or ask the archivists if there is an expected citation format you should follow.

You may also want to take photos of materials you use as references to use later. Ask permission before doing so, as there could be restrictions on reproduction, but this can be a helpful tool if permitted. If you take photos, make sure you are maintaining a system to track what things are and where you got them via file structure or file naming. Much like the thorough citations for your notes, this will also hopefully save you from having to dig through your memory or revisit the archive when it comes time to create your bibliography.

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