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Archival research


Archival research is a type of primary research which involves seeking out and extracting evidence from original archival records. These records may be held either in institutional archive repositories, or in the custody of the organisation (whether a government body, business, family, or other agency) that originally generated or accumulated them, or in that of a successor body. Archival research can be contrasted with (1) secondary research (undertaken in a library or online), which involves identifying and consulting secondary sources relating to the topic of enquiry; and (2) with other types of primary research and empirical investigation such as fieldwork and experiment.

Archival research is generally more complex and time-consuming than library and internet research, presenting challenges in identifying, locating and interpreting relevant documents. Archival records are often unique, and the researcher must be prepared to travel to reach them. Some finding aids to archival documents are hosted online, but many more are not, and some records lack any kind of finding aid at all. Although most archive repositories welcome researchers, and have professional staff tasked with assisting them, the sheer quantity of records means that finding aids may be of only limited usefulness: the researcher will need to hunt through large quantities of documents in search of material relevant to his or her particular enquiry. Some records may be closed to public access for reasons of confidentiality; and others may be written in archaic handwriting, in ancient or foreign languages, or in technical terminology. Archival documents were generally created for immediate practical or administrative purposes, not for the benefit of future researchers, and additional contextual research may be necessary to make sense of them. Many of these challenges are exacerbated when the records are still in the custody of the generating body or in private hands, where owners or custodians may be unwilling to provide access to external enquirers, and where finding aids may be even more rudimentary or non-existent.


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