As a biology major, you know I’m a sucker for science (with the exception of chem…holla to all my fellow bio majors AM I RIGHT?). So as I was browsing the subjects in the Archives & Collections of the SCU Library, I came across a drop down section called the “History of Science” upon which I read a short little blurb stating, “Archives & Special Collections holds many of the books used in scientific instruction during the early decades of Santa Clara College. Books on optics and on practical experimentation are particularly well represented. Many of the scientific instruments used in SCC science classes are kept in Archives & Special Collections.”
HEYO. From this, I think my research question is: “What was the science curriculum like during the early years of Santa Clara University and how has it changed to become the flourishing program it is today?” I hope to find information about courses offered, instruments used in class and/or lab (were labs offered?), objectives taught, majors offered/requirements for the majors (were there science majors offered or were science classes taught as core classes only?), if there was a separate school for the sciences, number of applicants interested in pursuing a science career, graduates with science degrees (when were they first offered?) and careers in the field of science following graduation.
My plan of attack is to use Lynée Lewis Galleit’s ideas, and keep in mind a key claim she made: “the researcher’s interests, prejudices selection of subject matter, research questions, and biases inform and guide the research, and the researcher should inform readers of these factors up front.” Clarity and directness is required in the relay of research to an audience even though most of the information will consist of facts, purpose can always be interpreted in many different ways.
Katherine E. Tirabassi also provides a set of principles for those embarking on archival research projects:
- Principle of selectivity: the researcher’s understanding of how archivists select and omit artifacts for a given collection
- Principle of cross-referencing: searching across documents for context that clarify an archival document’s rhetorical situation or that confirm, corroborate, clarify or contradict a fact or point cited
- Principle of categorization: use of keywords and finding aids that help to access information
- Principle of closure: the understanding that there are inherent gaps in archival records and thus they cannot be searched exhaustively; finding the ending point or knowing when to make an exit is an essential part of archival research
There are many other incredibly helpful tips and moves in research that these two authors offer, and I plan to utilize their wisdom in my next visit to the archives and report on my findings.
-FH