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Homecoming: Tips

Last Updated: Nov 5, 2024 11:01 AM

Tips for Research Success

Keep in mind:

  • Historical research takes time.  Plan ahead and start early.
  • Take notes.  Record your sources and link each source with your notes.  Archivists cannot backtrack your research and identify citations and images so this part is up to you.
    • When using a collection, write down the collection name, number, and box/folder or page number with your corresponding notes.
    • If you take a photo of something, write down the source of the material on scrap paper, place it next to the object, and photograph the whole thing.  You'll have the image with it's source in one shot..
  • Don't forget: yearbooks, course catalogs, university newspapers, films, ephemera, all give an idea of daily campus life.  Look at these resources for the era appropriate for your research.  
  • The historical record is imperfect and incomplete.  It is what has survived and what was collected or donated to the University Archives.
  • Keep context in mind.  Think about what has been recorded, what hasn't, and why.
  • Using and understanding resources
    • Tips from the National Archives on analyzing and understanding primary source material