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[tuxedo_cat]

We occasionally have thread discussions focused on a specific issue regarding archival research, but it seems like it might be helpful to have a clearinghouse site to share tips, advice, research techniques, important discoveries (in properly veiled fashion, of course).

I invite others to identify their general discipline or area of research and places where you have conducted research, but you certainly don't have to divulge any info if you'd rather not.  I'm restricting this thread to the humanities disciplines, just for convenience.

My field is early modern English lit, although both of my research projects have been very interdisciplinary (fair bit of history, women's studies, some sociology and anthro).  I chose my graduate program partly for its proximity to a major research library in my field (the Huntington Library in CA), and I received essentially no guidance from faculty in my department about the nitty-gritty of doing effective archival research.  So I've just made stuff up as I went along!  

On another thread wannawritemore has already proposed some very useful techniques.  For the moment I will offer one recommendation and one recent discovery:

I generally recommend that you interact with librarians at the Huntington the way you would with the French:  you must show them respect and deference, and then they will be terrifically kind and helpful.  I've watched a few scholars who thought very highly of themselves drop a bunch of attitude on the staff when they arrived.  Not a good idea.  That's advice that's probably useful at any library!

Recent discovery:  we have chatted here occasionally about EEBO (Early English Books Online).  My institution does not subscribe to this database, so I have to drive down the road a bit to access stuff.  It turns out that some libraries subscribe only to the image-text versions (ie, stuff you could find on classic Michigan microfilm in previous decades) and of course the Holy Grail of EEBO is the transcribed, searchable versions of texts.  Institutions partnered with the EEBO will have the whole enchilada.

Other rare books libraries where I have camped out occasionally:  the Folger Shakespeare Library (DC), Newberry (Chicago), British Library, the Bodleian (Oxford), the Houghton (Harvard).  The Folger is wonderful -- I'm always surprised how uncrowded it is, even in the summer (getting into DC is a pia and expensive to stay).  You can also download anything at all from EEBO -- the Houghton does *not* let you do that (pffft).  I haven't been back to the Huntington in years, but of course, what could be lovelier?  I do miss it.

[cc_and_grad]

Ok, I'll bite. I'm in history and my research generally involves early printed books. Digital collections (like EEBO) are very handy because I can get the content of a book from home. When you are dealing with lots of books, many of them quite long and (in my case) not in English, you can't really plow through them all, cover-to-cover, in a short trip to a rare book library. BUT these trips are still hugely important for lots of reasons including the fact that the physical book tells me a lot that I don't get from a digitized version, and, of course, there are still lots of books I am interested in that are not on line.

Trips to rare books libraries give me a chance to examine marginalia and other physical aspects of books as well as delve into their contents. In my field, rare book collections were often amassed or at least greatly developed by early scholars who everyone knows, and one of the best things that happens to me when I visit them is seeing evidence of what these scholars were up to in the books (from the notes,booksellers letters and catalog listings, letters to other scholars and so forth pasted into the books as well as the annotations in the text). I still remember my first library trip when I ran across the personal (facsimle) copy of a book belonging to a historian (long dead) whose work I had been reading and got to see which passages he underlined and made notes about. I came to see the actual book, which I did, but uncovering the annotated facsimile from the scholar was amazing too.

Like tuxedo_cat, I have been to the Newberry and the Huntington but also (the rare book libraries at...) UCLA, Iowa, Yale, University of Chicago, National Library of Medicine and Indiana University.

[llanfair]

Great thread!

I'm in History as well - eighteenth-century Britain.  Most of my archival-research trips have been tightly orchestrated and going to a lot of sites - think "If this is Tuesday morning, I must be in Manchester."  Most of the sources I look at are manuscript diaries, letters, and personal-account books.

I've found that pre-planning these trips helps a lot - whether I'm using a2a (through the National Archives) or each individual archive's online catalogue, I make a list of what looks promising, then I get in touch with the archivists well ahead of my trip.  They know their holdings better than anyone, after all, and when I tell them my criteria, they've often been able to rule out some possibilities and suggest many more.

The trickiest part about UK archives/Record Offices has to be their many and varied opening hours - some aren't open Mondays, some are open late on Wednesdays, &c.  Fortunately, the SO is my trip-planner, and he's particularly skilled at working around these parameters (as well as train and bus schedules).

I've tried on two different trips to get to the Northumberland Record Office, and each time, have been stymied.  I will get there the next time if I have to plan the whole trip around it!

[indirectquote]

I'll bite, especially since I'm a grad student who is still figuring out how to do archival research and then translate it into a decent dissertation. I'd love to learn from your experiences.

I'm in English lit (Victorian), but my work is fairly interdisciplinary. My sources have so far been pretty diverse --- mainly rare books, but also book catalogues and advertisements, letters, government documents and newspaper reports. I've camped out at the British Library (and BL Newspaper Library), Wellcome Library, National Archives (UK) and the Kinsey Institute, and looked at archives at London Metropolitan University and Columbia. I also use searchable newspaper databases like British Library 19th Century Newspapers Digital Archive a lot. There are several more archives that I'd like to visit, but I think that'll have to wait until I've finished my dissertation.

To reiterate llanfair's tip on preplanning, I've found that making up a little 'kit' with everything I might need for an archival visit all in one place (for me: netbook, power cord [and plug converter, if necessary], coin for lockers, identification, pass card(s), scarf, and possibly camera and charger) has helped me save time and worry, as has planning trips extensively ahead of time.

Currently, I'm struggling to figure out how I should organize my photographs and PDFs of documents. How do you guys organize your notes/pictures/PDFs to facilitate the writing process?

[tuxedo_cat]

So happy to have company!  Llanfair, I should have known you were a kindred archive dork!  Can I steal your husband sometime?  What a luxury!  And I have to say, I have never ventured into public records -- it's a bit intimidating.

Indirect: re organization one thing I did early on was to create a single bibliographic file called my "archive file" and created an entry with all the data for each work I was reading or at least examining briefly: catalogue number (including different ones for different libraries), edition, years of other editions, size of text, page-length, state of text (fragile . . . smelly!), what month/year I read it, etc.

Then I created a separate Word doc for my notes about each individual text.  I haven't needed to collect much in the way of images or photographs, but I often include both a name/object descriptor and the date in any file name.

I also make full print-outs of everything I read -- for those of you who have almost gone blind like me reading stuff in dense, Gothic (or blackletter) type, you can imagine the thrill of printing out a 300+ page document to read in Arial!  omg.

On each document as I am reading, I put two different kinds of notations at the bottom of each page: 

(1) fn + brief topical phrase: to indicate something from that page I might want to cite in an article I'm working on, e.g. "children as legal witnesses"

(2) Q + brief topical phrase:  to indicate something that is definitely worth quoting to support a point

I make these notations *on* the page of the document itself instead of typing in notes and quotations to a separate Word document, since it's easier and quicker.  Then when I am revising an article and I need to fill out the footnotes, I flip through each source, review each "fn" and "Q" notation and add those in.  It goes very quickly.

Don't know if that will make any sense, but it has been helpful as a time-saving technique (I do this with the secondary literature, too).

[indirectquote]

Thanks, Tuxedo. That's really helpful --- especially the bit about bottom-page notations. I think I'll give that a try with my print-outs.

[august]

This is a wonderful thread.  I have found, and I impart this information to my students too, that it is the fact, one must be incredibly respectful of archivists and archive librarians.  If you are, you will be rewarded.  Sometimes, however, even if you are, there are problems! 

[mystictechgal]

May I ask what to all of you must be a dumb question? (If not, feel free to ignore it.)

How does one discover which archives might contain works important to one's research? They exist all over the place, from R1 universities to small-town historical societies, church archives, museums, right down to, well... people's attics. Some collections (Folger's, etc.) are quite well publicized, known even to the interested lay-person, but whole lots obviously exist in much less well known places, and it seems that some of those places aren't at all well publicized or intuitive. How do you know where those places are? Is there some database somewhere that catalogues who has what, or is it all networking and serendipity?

It's a pretty basic question, but if the thread is to help new researchers I'd think it might be valuable information. Or, maybe it's just a dumb question. (Sorry for butting in, but I find the whole research issue fascinating, and I don't know anyone else that might answer it for me.)

[watermarkup]

MTG, in my work (late medieval/early modern, early printing/old books, European language tradition), there is a close and intimate connection between the archives and the national/international censuses of existing copies. For my last project, I searched through 100+ years of entries in online databases for likely-sounding titles, then checked other works by the authors of those titles, and then planned research trips to examine those works. With each research trip, I'd get a better sense of which authors and titles were central to my project, and which were marginal. Sometimes there would be a major archive that I didn't need to visit because its holdings of relevant materials were redundant with closer places, while a long trip to a small library might yield a long full day's worth of unique sources.

Lots of interesting things will turn up by thumbing through a rare book catalog published in 1903, though, or glancing at the old card catalog in addition to the computerized catalog. Modern catalogs miss the darndest things sometimes.

[systeme_d_]

MTG, as a grad student, one usually starts by noting what archives are mentioned in the bibliographies of the authors who write in one's subfield.  Another strategy is to find out which archives offer fellowships (short or long term, dissertation or "young scholar"), and then research what they have in terms of holdings. 

When one finally arrives at an archive, it's also good to talk to archivists who specialize in one's area of interest to find out what they know about holdings elsewhere. 

[indirectquote]

MTG, I've also found it helpful to find archives on my topic through WorldCat, where you can limit a topic search to archival sources. It will by no means give you a comprehensive knowledge of where all of the things that might interest you are, and you will probably need to do additional digging to see if some of what comes up is relevant. But I'd still recommend giving it a spin, especially if you have no idea where to start.

[lenniel]

What an excellent thread!  Many thanks, tuxedo_cat and I have already gleaned some helpful tips.  Since I'm one of a very few in my field, I will immediately out myself with specifics, so will be general. I am a musicologist and medievalist, specializing in a specific area of non-Western music and musical culture.  Like tuxedo_cat, I do a lot of interdisciplinary work.

Since many of the archives I would like to visit are either in countries currently in states of war or very expensive to visit, I have relied with success on obtaining microfilms of various texts, though miss out on examining the entire folio when I do so.  On the other hand, I greatly appreciate enlarging the .pdf so I can read the cramped script, and one library was kind enough to make sure I had a little bit of the surrounding texts and marginalia so I could have an idea of what else was contained in the folio.

I usually have a basic format for taking notes as I read, though it is slow when I am not reading in English.  When I visit a library, I make sure to have my lexica at hand and often transcribe difficult passages for further study or if I need help from someone more fluent in the language.  I also create a basic, no-frills translation, noting where there are double and possibly triple meanings and what words/phrases are key.  Before I visit any library, even for non-archival research, I study their holding, target books I need and grovel abasely to the library staff. 

In my field, there are a number of helpful concordances and indices that are helpful to have on hand or to study prior, plus studies of various library holdings.  These have proved invaluable for locating obscure resources, as many are not available online.  Some are rather old, but my subsect of the field is virtually unchanged due to the need to know several languages.

MTG, I've also found it helpful to find archives on my topic through WorldCat, where you can limit a topic search to archival sources. It will by no means give you a comprehensive knowledge of where all of the things that might interest you are, and you will probably need to do additional digging to see if some of what comes up is relevant. But I'd still recommend giving it a spin, especially if you have no idea where to start.

Worldcat is a great tool and I've found many wonderful things by just asking it to locate texts on various subjects.  As systeme_d and others have suggested, the bibliography of books in your areas of interest will also give you a lot of direction. 

Many fields also have some type of index that lists all the articles and books published in a given year, sorted by topic, time frame, etc.  In musicology, the Music Index, RISM, and RILM are among the biggest, but there are others. I also use the Index Islamicus and various indicies related to the ancient world.  (Sumerian lit is now available online through the ETCSL) Often the discipline-specific encyclopedia, if there is one, will have a good basic bibliography to use.  In music there is Groves, which is excellent and generally current, plus many specialized resources for American studies, World musics and so forth.

[tuxedo_cat]

Lenny!  So happy you dropped by -- I will just offer a general expression of admiration and envy of medievalists of all stripes.  You people intimidate me -- all those languages.  Not to mention being a musicologist on top of that! 

Ditto to mystic about all the advice here so far about how you find out about certain archives.  And for any grad students reading this thread who have not already dug into an archival project, this is not a bad way to distinguish yourself from the rest of the mob when you go on the job market.  I think we very likely already have enough interpretations of Hamlet. 

[larryc]

I have a handout somewhere that gives basic advice on archival research for my students. Some of the tips I remember:

Contact archivists well in advance. Let them know what you are working on and what you hope to find. Make sure you exhaust any online catalogs and archives before you ask them silly questions. Ask about procedures--can you use a camera, a laptop? A good archivist knows the collections, including sometimes unprocessed, uncatalogued items. Get them on your side.

As said above, be polite and deferential to the archivists. They are professionals, they are mighty, and they can make or break your research project. Come to the archives 15 minutes after they open to let them settle in, leave 15 minutes before closing so they are not waiting on you. Do not neglect the social niceties. If you go on a coffee break ask your archivist if you can bring something back. Write a thank you note when you get back.

One of my colleagues (a mighty researcher) spends a chunk of his summers back east at various archives. On his last day of research he gives the archivists a smoked salmon (we are in the northwest) and thanks them. Boy does he get his photocopies quickly!

Bring a sweater. Archives are cold.

If it is allowed, photograph everything. So much quicker than reading and taking notes! Start in each case with a photo of the archival box label, then of the folder label, and only then the document. Turn off not just your flash but also the sound on your camera and laptop. Practice good organization and backup of your digital files.

I always have a file open on my laptop titled something like "Stuff to look at next time I am at the Beinecke" with references to collections that seemed intriguing but we a bit off-topic for what I was doing just then.

[llanfair]

Tuxedo_Cat, the SO says you may certainly borrow him, but you have to be going someplace cool :)

IndirectQuote, my "organisation" (I'm using the term loosely) is thus: I have different folders on my laptop for published diaries, MS diaries, letters, accounts, &c.  I have a printed list (as well as one on my computer) of all the things I want to see.  That's especially useful in case the laptop doesn't like their power system or they're having problems, and that's happened to me.

For the ones that aren't useful, I note why; for the ones that are, I type notes from them - this works better than photos for me, since I may find only 1-2 sentences of a given page useful.  I save each file as "NameDiary" or "NameLetterDate" and they go in the appropriate folder (and .pdfs can go into these folders as well).

Images - same idea: I have one for baskets, one for basketweavers, one for basketrooms, &c, and each image is filed accordingly.  Sometimes an image gets copied into a second folder, if it fits more than one.

Since I often visit a lot of ROs/archives in one trip, I include hard-copy instructions for each one, including a map and telephone numbers.  It's helpful to have available at a glance their opening hours, requirements (some will need particular kinds of ID, for example), whether photos are allowed, &c.  Some don't allow laptops - the National Archives wouldn't let me use my own pencil-sharpener! - so you need to ask ahead.

A lot of archives will allow (actually, some require) you to book your seat in advance, and a lot of them will also save you time by having a selection of things you want to look at ready for you when you arrive.

And absolutely, thank them profusely! I bring along Canada-flag pins and leave them with the archivists/receptionists - a little thing, but they get a kick out of them!