Don't forget to check out other research guides at Vassar! Many of these are specific to particular courses or subfields, and can help you find sources that are relevant to your topic.
The answers to these questions help determine what areas you need to consult in secondary sources and inform your keyword selection in library catalogs and article databases. In addition to using databases that are probably familiar to you (e.g., Historical Abstracts, JSTOR), ask a librarian for suggestions about what other databases might be appropriate for your topic. There are many specialized databases and article indexes that could allow you to identify unique and important sources.
Research tip: Visualize your topic. Make a grid and label the top row (headings) with what you consider to be the BIG subtopics of your topic. In each column, brainstorm relevant synonyms, people's names, organizations, concepts, ideas, places. Looking at this layout can sometimes reveal possibilities for a thread that runs across the columns, or a different way of organizing what the main ideas are. This grid will change and evolve as you do your research.
Think creatively about what types of primary sources may exist to inform your research questions.
Populate your topic with people, events, and controversies that provide keywords to help you find primary sources.
Determine what primary sources actually exist, what they can answer, and what you are able to use (i.e., is it in a language you can read? is it in an archive you can visit?).
Interrogate your primary sources. Read them against other sources.
Be flexible and open to allowing your primary sources to inform and guide your inquiry about your historical topic.
Research tip: Visualize your primary source possibilities. The grid below suggests different types of sources often used in historical research; what types of sources will speak to your particular topic? Keep in mind that these different types of sources can be found in different places--for example, British parliamentary papers and U.S. congressional documents are in separate databases. Similarly, there are databases for art and images, and other databases for news (and for oral histories, and for the records of the NAACP, etc., etc.). Thinking about your primary sources in this way can help you construct your own roadmap for research.
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personal narratives |
media |
government and law |
organizations and associations |
social commentary |
art and artifacts |
scholarship as primary source |
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memoirs, autobiographies diaries correspondence description and travel (Library of Congress Subject Heading for travel writing) mediated narratives (oral histories, interviews)
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newspapers magazines advertisements mainstream press alternative press **research the sources: who were the editors, columnists, audience, and what point of view does the publication represent?
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national subnational international (e.g., United Nations) official records policy documents data/statistics legislation treaties administrative materials diplomatic materials trials |
pamphlets posters publications group records (e.g., meeting minutes, correspondence between group members) **these suggestions apply for corporations, industries, and institutions (e.g., colleges and universities) as well - consider internal records as well as public-facing materials |
descriptive materials prescriptive materials manuals (e.g., on letter writing, etiquette, cookbooks) pamphlets, broadsides speeches novels, plays
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fine art decorative art material culture ephemera music
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medical or scientific journals law reviews academic journals and monographs
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