Tip of the week: Checklist for walking into an archive

Recently, I was asked to think about my advice to researchers walking into an archive  for the first time.

A typical study room at the New York Public Library, 1926
(New York Public Library Visual Materials, New York Public Library Flickr photostream)

For anyone unfamiliar with conducting research on site, repositories like libraries and archives are rich with primary sources but can require a little getting used to.

Therefore, I decided the way I think about doing research in an archive, and the best way to describe it to others, is in the form of a brief checklist. There’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (actually 6) things to consider before walking into an archive. To celebrate October as Archives Month, you can read what I came up with, my checklist Early Detection: Preparing to be a History Detective, on the website The Ultimate History Project.

How does it compare with your experience in archives? Hit the comments section above or below and let me know.