How to Navigate the National Archives Without Losing Your Sanity
Archival work can be incredibly daunting. The sheer volume of documents, the wild filing system, and incomplete or nonexistent finding aids all add up to a decidedly overwhelming experience — especially for the first-timer.
However, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way. These have made my archival trips quick and successful. I sincerely hope this can also help you when you go.
This is especially pointed at those trying to make use of the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. I wrote this based on some questions I have fielded from more junior scholars over the past couple of years.
How Long Should I Spend in the Archive?
Many people ask about the recommended minimum amount of time spent to gather various amounts of data. I don’t think the amount of time is as necessary as making a pointed research trip.
That said plan for at least a week. But go in with a plan to make that visit smooth. With the National Archives at College Park, you have an approximately forty-five-minute wait time for every material pull that you request. This can be upwards of 24 boxes, and you can have a second pull “on deck.” This is why planning ahead, and having an idea of what you want to see can make it a smooth process. If you do it right you’ll have a constant flow of carts with minimal wait times.
Part of that planning includes understanding how things are filed, and at NARA II this means lots of visits to the archivists to help prepare your pull slips. These people are incredibly valuable.
How do you catalog your information? Dates? Subjects? All of the above?
When I organize the information I gather, I tend to recreate the finding aid and format of the archive. This sort of linear thinking helps my brain sort the material in my head and begin to sort it as needed for my project.
I create this sort of internal finding aid using OneNote, and you can read about that here:
I’ve done my best to have short descriptions of each document as I nest them together, but that obviously takes time. I’ll at least write a smidgen of what I took away from it that I found most important at the time. This gives me something to search for in OneNote when I’m writing.
I also take a picture of every box metadata plate and every folder, so I can keep myself oriented as I sort my photos later.
But then later I reorganize my stuff by subject, and then into folders for whatever chapter I’m writing.
How do you read the archives?
I often skim through the documents, looking for keywords and names as I churn through quickly. I take as many pictures as possible with my camera on my cell phone. Sometimes I use a stand, other times not. I also have a Bluetooth camera clicker — more on that later.
If something is important or interesting, I sometimes stop and read more deeply. And then I annotate a note about what I read, something easy to search in my notes for later. I take the picture and move on.
If you have the time (and money to stay) then reading while in the archive is a wonderful technique. Before everyone took pictures with camera phones that is what they needed to do — and take copious notes with pencils and notecards.
But in this day and age, with the technology available and limited funds for poor history graduate students, it’s best to take as many photos as possible while still keeping an organized system. For your sanity and future self read those documents.
Equipment
I (on the recommendation of a friend) purchased two pieces of equipment that I found incredibly useful in the archive. The first of which was a camera stand. This meant I had my own capability to hold my phone above whatever documents I was looking at, which allows me to save my wrists and back from hours of awkward angles.
Combined with the Bluetooth clicker I found, I am able to take photographs quickly and efficiently. While it often feels like I simply flip pages, I try to leave no page unturned and capture all of the relevant information I can in the minuscule time I have available.
Health and Welfare
Don’t forget to stand up and walk around. Eat food and drink water. For me, archive work is draining, and sitting hunched over looking at old documents, and taking pictures all day is very taxing for my neck and back.
It is vitally important to recognize your limitations. Even if this means closing up shop earlier than closing time if only to get some rest.
Archival research can be daunting at first. Especially the massive reading room at the National Archives in College Park. Following these tips will help but it ultimately boils down to figuring out what works for you, specifically. Archival research is incredibly rewarding and fun.
Let me know what you think in the comments, perhaps you have a different method or even a different favorite note-taking application. I am always interested in conversations about techniques and craft!
