Overview
Purpose: This assignment gives you a chance to actually practice doing archival research. The aim is for you to explore—that is, you do NOT need to visit an archive with a particular research area in mind. Rather, the purpose is to get curious and to view this as a chance to explore the possibilities of archives.
Instructions: For this assignment, you will a explore digital archive. Please find the two resources at the end of this assignment and choose one of them to explore.
Tasks:
Spend time exploring the chosen archive. This means searching through archival material on a particular topic of interest to you. Again, you do NOT need to choose something specific to this course—If you’re looking at a digital archive, such as the Smithsonian, the possibilities are nearly endless!
Write a two-page summary about your experience, focusing in particular on what documents you found and what interested you about them. The summary should include a list of research questions you might ask of the materials to develop into a research project.
Formatting and Guidelines: Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-in margins.
Your written summary should:
- Clearly identify the primary source or sources that you found (e.g., photographs or newspaper articles or letters)
- Include a list of at least three research questions (following lecture guidelines) that you could ask of the material to develop into a longer project
- Reflect on your experience and what you learned during the process (you can also include additional questions, either about the process of archival research or of the materials you found)
Resources: choose one of the following digital archives to explore.
https://collections.si.edu/search/
https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/