The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 25, June 24, 2007, Article 11

MORE ARCHIVE RESEARCH TIPS

In response to Dick Johnson's article on archival research last week,
Roger Burdette writes: "

1. Wear old clothes. Old documents are dusty and contaminated by dead
insects, dust, dirt, paper fragments, etc. Many of the old leather
journals are in poor condition and will shed orange dust over you and
your work area.

2. Most numismatic-related archives are not digitized and probably
will not be before they turn to dust. Keep careful notes of the contents
of each box or volume and the various series you examine. This will
become your master index to the archive and help you find documents
when you want them.

3. If you are permitted to make photocopies, copy anything that seems
of even remote interest - you can study it in detail after the archive
has closed its doors for the day.

4. Enter the series, box/volume, folder and other identifying information
on every photocopy. That way you will not have to check for the location
of any item. This also makes assembling footnotes and references easy.

5. Be patient with the staff. Most of these folks are not professional
archivists - they're students and part-time employees earning low wages.
They have to put up with a lot of complaints from researchers who think
their own project is the most important in the world."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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