Research Tips

CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS

	1. IDENTIFY YOUR TOPIC

	Identify your topic as clearly as possible, including subject, range of dates, key names/places/events, and regional limiters.

	Try not to be too vague ("What do you have about women?") or too specific ("I'm looking for letters written by Fulton county women in 1903 that discuss quilting techniques."). Brainstorming with the archivist can help you find a more reasonable topic to research or point you toward collections you might not have considered.

	2. CONDUCT SECONDARY RESEARCH FIRST

	Read up on your topic before attempting primary research. Familiarity with secondary sources (books, articles, documentaries, etc.) will make time spent seeking and using primary sources more profitable, and citations from secondary sources can help lead you to relevant primary materials.

	3. WHERE ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCES?

	Spend some time identifying institutions, people or organizations that have relevant primary resources. Guides to archival collections can help with this task. Increasingly, information about manuscripts and archives can be located through online catalog searches, and many institutions have made their holdings accessible electronically. However, don't expect to find everything online. Also, don't expect every institution to have materials on every topic. The reason they're called "special collections" is because not everyone has the materials.

	4. CALL BEFORE YOU GO

	Contact the archives you wish to visit before dropping in, especially if the archives is located out of town. Calling ahead can help confirm whether the repository holds materials in which you are interested and provides an opportunity to explore other resources of which you may not be aware. It also allows you to verify hours of operation, restrictions on the collection, and the archives' policies on access, copying, retrieval of materials from off-site storage, fees, etc.

	5. PLAN TO SPEND MORE THAN 30 MINUTES

	Allow plenty of time for examining the materials; don't wait until the last minute to make your request. Working with primary resources is somewhat like working on a puzzle, examining individual pieces of information that may or may not fit together. Such materials are not always easily understood, and time pressures can make them seem even more obscure.

	Be aware that it takes time to listen to oral history interviews, watch videos, etc. Not everything in an archives is "full-text keyword searchable." Many materials will be handwritten and may require some deciphering.

	6. BRING CASH FOR PHOTOCOPIES-AND DON'T EXPECT THEM IMMEDIATELY

	Expect to pay fees for photocopying and audio-visual reproduction, and expect a time lag before you receive the copied materials. Although some archives (GSU among them) try to fill requests within a day or two, and sometimes almost immediately, many have waiting periods of two weeks or more. Institutions have differing policies on the kinds of payment they will accept; do not assume that everyone takes credit cards. At most institutions, you will not be allowed to make your own copies. Be aware that if a document is fragile and could be damaged by excessive handling, it will not be copied.

	7. EXPECT COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS

	Be prepared to deal with copyright and use issues that may arise. These are particularly common with regard to 20th century materials, most of which are of an age to still be protected by U.S. copyright law. In some archives, you may be allowed to view materials but not make copies. Other institutions require you to present letters of introduction or have certain scholarly credentials before you will be allowed to do research.

	8. THIS IS YOUR PROJECT

	Expect to do some of the "digging" yourself, rather than rely exclusively on the archives staff. Don't expect the archivist to do your research for you. Although some institutions have prepared research guides that will lead you to appropriate collections, they may not tell you exactly where to look. Also, similar information may be spread over several collections, so you may need to look in additional boxes.

	9. BE PREPARED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

	Because the items held in archives are one-of-a-kind or rare materials, you will be asked to take notes only in pencil. If you are using original photos, you will be provided with a pair of gloves to keep the oils in your fingers from damaging the photographs. In most archives you will be limited to the number of materials you have at your workspace; you may be asked to store extraneous materials in a locker. Take a photo ID with you; you will need it when you sign in.