As we read further and further into archival research, I’m starting to view it as more of an art rather than a process. Yes, it does involve abiding by very mechanic and structured rules, such as what you can and can’t do when using the archival artifacts, but then there’s also the more complex techniques and methods that are involved with actually acquiring the information.
One of this week’s reading assignments, “Archival Survival” by Lynee Gaillet, was one such article that opened my eyes to the complexities of archival research. What I was first surprised by was the sheer amount of preparation that goes into attaining the needed documents. Applications need to be filled, appointments must be made, self-credibility needs to be established… the list goes on.
Once you finally are granted access to the documents, however, the hardest part becomes actually finding answers. One tip the article gives is that it is important to have a broad reading on the artifact, which means placing it in time periods and contexts besides the one it is actually from. This is likely to occur especially if the information you find in one document leads to a previous or later event that another document describes. In this case, the research process will be much like an investigation, where one clue leads to another. But this, of course, is not always going to be the case. Reading information will involve a lot of analysis and interpretation for times when the answers aren’t so clear and obvious.
Another tip that I found very useful had to do with the importance of analyzing the physical characteristics of the artifact and what it reveals/implies from its state. I could see myself overlooking such important and revealing clues by focusing simply on the words of a document (for example) rather than the physical paper itself. A lot can be said about the physical characteristics of an object, such as the purpose of its layout, the materials used to make the object, the way in which it is presented (implying potential information about the intended audience)…etc.
Overall, this was a very eye-opening article that revealed to me the hidden complexities of archival research, as well as tips that I will be sure to keep in mind in the future.
Images Cited:
http://www.klahanieresearch.ca/images/788092_34164869_c.jpg
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54c6a4c7e4b0a8ea616094fe/t/54c6a512e4b09604652dd55f/1432623832597/?format=1500w