Pursuing a heritage project of your choosing can be a long and involved process. Finding resources, gathering the right information and putting it all together in the end takes patience and perseverance. Here are some tips and tricks to help make the process a little easier for you!
Types of Resources
- The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources: this is an important distinction between original sources and works written about original sources. A primary source is a document of any kind produced in the historical period you are studying. It could be a photograph, letter, book, or many other kinds of media. These are generally found in museums and archives. Secondary sources, on the other hand, are books or articles that have been written about a historical time period. They contain references to original materials, but are not original sources themselves. Both types of source are important when pursuing historical research, and secondary sources can be a really good way to find relevant primary sources!
- Another tip for finding good sources is to keep an open mind about what you might find. Historical information can be gathered from a number of different sources. Everyone is familiar with the standard kinds of sources like books, letters and diaries. Western society especially uses the written word extensively to pass along information. However, a number of other sources can be useful to look at. Photographs, videos and other visual materials such as paintings or political cartoons can tell you a lot about a particular time period. Material objects such as clothing, furniture or even architecture can also help to put a picture of a particular time period together. Each of these different kinds of sources can tell you different things, and the best research projects use multiple kinds to tell a rich and complex story. Don’t base all your research on a single kind of source, because you may be missing out on some interesting perspectives.
- Finally, one source that often gets overlooked is oral history. The passing along of knowledge through speech and memory is hugely important to many cultures, but also one of the hardest kinds of sources to gather. Talking to grandparents, or other seniors can help to add a personal perspective to your project. Here’s a great guide to getting started recording oral history, courtesy of Make Something Edmonton. Many oral history projects already exist, here’s an example of one done in Edmonton with recordings you can listen to for some ideas.
Gathering Information
Once you’ve figured out where your sources are likely to be, the next step is actually start collecting the information. You will probably also find that you need more resources to supplement your primary sources. Its common to start a research project because you read one really interesting book or came across a particular source that sparked your curiosity. The next step is navigating the links between sources to get to other relevant material.
- The best way to expand your resources is to start with one reputable source, probably a book written about your subject by an academic historian. There are two places to check in a book or an article of this kind: the introduction and the bibliography. Introductions will often mention other books that have previously been written on the subject, or resources on slightly different sources that could still be useful to you. Bibliographies serve the same purpose, but in much greater detail. Working your way through these sections can help you find additional primary and secondary sources.
- Another good way to find more resources is to search some databases. University libraries usually have access to extensive databases, but public libraries and archives often have online catalogues to search as well. When you are doing your preliminary reading, make a note of some key words and phrases that keep coming up in relation to your subject. When searching with key words try several different variations on your search terms. Different databases or catalogues are structured differently, so you may get different, but equally valuable, results depending on your search vocabulary. Asking a librarian is the best way to get additional help with this process. They are experts at knowing how databases work and how to get to what you need.
- Also, don’t be afraid to skim resources in an effective way. There will always be parts of books or articles that aren’t very relevant to what you want to know. A quick skim means that you are unlikely to miss anything really important. Don’t feel obligated to read every single word!
Putting it all Together
Research projects can often feel large and unwieldy, and in some ways, doing the research is the best part of the project. What happens after you’ve collected a large pile of research and how do you put it all together?
- Recognize that your goals may have changed since you started, and don’t feel obligated to stick to your original vision. You probably thought you knew what you were going to find and had some idea of how to present it when you first started the project. However, its very common to find things you didn’t expect or to pick up on a theme you are particularly interested in. Don’t be alarmed if the end product looks very different from what you planned, its part of why research is so interesting!
- In a similar vein, don’t underestimate the combination of perseverance and coincidence. The world of information is vast, and no one person can be sure to find everything related to a particular topic. That being said, perseverance and the ability to work at the problem from a number of different angles can go a long ways. However, coincidence also plays its part in research. Coming across the right reference at the right time or using an unexpected search term can be surprisingly fruitful. Sometimes coincidence is the best that can happen to your research project!
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