|
Conducting Historical Research
Beginning your Research
Once a researcher has decided on a topic for study, s/he begins by reviewing the most general, tertiary sources, then moves to the more specific secondary sources and finally to primary sources. The primary sources are the most important resources to use in writing a paper on an historical topic because they were created in the time period being studied and therefore directly connect with the experiences and perceptions of the people who lived at that time.
Tertiary Sources: scouting the terrain
Tertiary sources are a compilation of information about secondary and primary sources. Examples include printed and web-based: bibliographies, indices, library catalogs, directories, reading lists, survey articles, and encyclopedias. Tertiary sources are very helpful in the beginning of the research process because they provide information that directs the researcher toward more specific sources in the area to be researched. They can provide a broad overview of topics related to the research interest and help the researcher to gain knowledge of the context and background for the topic to be researched, in the beginning of the process.
Secondary Sources: honing in
A secondary source is a written work, based on primary sources, in which the author has researched and written about a topic in which s/he not only reports findings, but makes conclusions, summations, interpretations and evaluations about those events. A secondary source usually also includes information on other secondary sources about the topic of interest. Examples of secondary sources include: printed and web-based biographies about people, articles in scholarly journals about historical events and people, military unit histories, and books about past time periods. Secondary sources can provide helpful clues for the researcher’s search for primary sources. A review of the footnote citations and bibliography in a secondary source can provide much information about the primary sources available on a particular topic. Online databases provide access to a large number of secondary sources in the form of research articles.
Primary Sources: beginning your own original research
A primary source is material that was created close to the time historical events took place. The raw data of history, primary sources provide immediate, close, personal, up-front information about people, places, and events in the past, at the time they occurred. Examples of primary sources include: diaries and journals; minutes; newsletters; field notes; ledger books; calendars with notations on them; letters and other correspondence; dispatches; newspapers; photographs; blueprints; architectural plans and drawings; business records; interviews with people at the time the event occurred; national census information; address books; county and church records of birth, death, and marriage; tax records; maps; reports; and government documents – all contemporary with the time period being studied. Other primary sources, that are useful but not as immediate, are memoirs, autobiographies, and oral history interviews written or created after the time period being studied.
In recent years, archives, libraries, museums, and military history departments around the country have been working to digitize their primary sources and many are now available online. When you visit an archives, it is important to talk to the person in charge and tell them what you are researching. Often there is uncatalogued material that would be of use to you, but only the archivist knows about it.
|
