Stalin at the Fifteenth Congress of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) December 1927, Moscow

The aim of this blog piece is to outline the kind of research methodology that I use when doing a small project, say 10,000 words, a journal article, MA dissertation, something at that level. I will be using both libraries and archives for research, coupled with some online sources and some reference books. The reason that I wanted to write this blog piece is that I have been reading around this subject in other scholars blog pieces (particularly read the 'Research Degree Insiders' blog pieces "pre-research" and "research",) and was struck firstly, by the different emphasis in my research methodology and secondly by how things had changed since I was an undergraduate back in the early 1980s.

In those days, I studied Ecology and the statistical analysis of biological systems, in my case the 'Canadian Ecological Survey' which was the entirety of Canada mapped in 1 km squares which denoted the dominant type of landscape in the square. The information was in the library, held in big A2 folders with fan fold printouts. And that was it. If it was not in the library then it was not available to use. Nowadays, I literally have access to millions of research documents on my laptop, and the questions are more around how do I find relevant data in a sea of information?

Exploring the landscape

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle on his estate at Bothel in Northumberland

Within your subject, even within your niche area of interest, there is a whole landscape of things to study. In many ways, you are like the William Cavendish in the picture above, confronted by a confusing array of possibilities; do you join the deer hunt, or cross the fence and ride round the lake to the house in the distance, or explore the hills beyond? Undoubtedly the first thing you are going to need is a map, so that you have a rough idea of where you are going, even if that changes en route. With a map you can plan a road to follow, or make choices between different paths and alter the route if it comes on to rain, or if you find your chosen path blocked. For the historian, their map is the historiography. Where does your research fit into the landscape of the history of your subject? Who has preceded you on your research pathway? So the initial point of departure on our research journey is to carry out a classic literature review so that you are fully orientated in your subject, its debates and personalities.

Pre-research

There is plenty of good material on conducting a literature review like "How to become a literature searching ninja". The important thing to remember when carrying out a literature review is that you should consider a wide range of material sources; published, online and primary source material held in archives, and at the same time weigh up the relative values of these sources. After all, there is no point spending months on difficult archival research only to find that it has already been published in a volume of collected papers or has already been extensively quoted in published research. The other thing to gain during your literature research is an idea of which libraries and archives might hold source material that might be of use to you, and more importantly the easiest way to access it.

Similarly, your initial, rather sketchy ideas about this research project, might start to alter as you notice interesting side paths, your chosen project seems rather barren of source material, or you realise that you have bitten off more than you can chew. Not to worry, and not to panic at this stage, record the information and carry on. Remember that at this stage you are simply mapping out the landscape and have committed little in way of time and resources to research. Properly mapping your research subject will pay dividends in the future by identifying issues at an early stage, and also identifying possible ways round problems. The important thing is to properly record your review in a citation manager, like Zotero, using it to create a structure and hierarchy to sort the citations into manageable groups. Later on, if you need to explore one of those interesting side paths, you will be able to pick up the thread quickly and easily rather than losing it forever.

The value of proper record keeping is shown in a journal article that I have just submitted (January 2021) on the Mechanised Corps of the Red Army 1942-1945. The project started around 2013 with some initial progress on the Mechanised Brigade organisation but nothing new on the Corps organisation, with no documents on the Pamyat Naroda website. Little progress was made until 2017 when Pamyat Naroda got round to releasing the Mechanised Corps fonds, and then suddenly there was a deluge of primary source materials. I had kept good records of my initial research, so to pick it up again after seven years, and incorporate the new material, was quite easy. This gave me about a third of the journal article, and for the rest I thought I would continue my study of the logistics of the Red Army. A survey of the new materials, revealed that this would not be possible, however a discussion of the Mechanised Corps mobility would be possible, made up from older, published material and the new releases. Proper citation recording pays dividends in the end.

Training

The Institute for Historical Research in London runs an excellent, week long, training course in using archives. Run twice a year, each course uses a different subject to illustrate the training and visits a variety of large, small and specialist archives, teaches the difference between libraries and archives, and how to use them.

https://www.history.ac.uk/study-training/research-training/methods-and-sources-historical-research

Also before you start I would suggest reading this guide by the Society of American Archivists https://www2.archivists.org/ which explains what an archive is and how to use them.

Starting the research process

So now that you have a proper understanding of the landscape of your research project, the next step is to decide which route you are going to follow. At this stage, it is likely that you have a good list of published material, an idea of where to find it, and an outline of what archival material might be available, without knowing exactly what documents are in each archive. This is the next thing that you need to address, since without a solid block of primary source research material to use, the project is going to look a little thin.

There are a number of ways in which you can tackle the issue of what is actually in the archives and these largely depend on the archive itself. If you are lucky, you have chosen to work in a well-funded and managed archive such as the National Archives at Kew. It will have an electronic catalogue on its website, records will hold decent descriptions of what is in each file, and there will be other finding aids available for you to use. You can ask the archivists for help as they will have detailed knowledge and experience of using the records. Also as a well-used archive, there will be other researchers who you can ask for advice and make use of their experience in various forums for your subject area.

Researching the archive

The next step must be to research the library/archive itself. The entry policies, registration, what equipment you can use in the library/archive, their policies on copying material and even where the local café is located for your lunch. All this information should be on their website, or contact the archivists and they will have a leaflet explaining the entry requirements. Every library and archive has different requirements, however all of them will require some sort of registration process, so you will need ID and will need to complete some forms on arrival. In many cases you may have to book your visit in advance and book the materials that you need, so that they are brought up from the stores, ready for your arrival. There will be restrictions on what materials you can take into the library/archive, the British Library allows pencils, notebooks, laptops and small cameras without stands. The National Archives allows SLR cameras and actually has a special photography room where you can copy documents using their own stands. The Bodleian Library makes you swear an oath:

““I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in its custody, not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library, and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.””

As you can see, these restrictions will determine how you are able to perform your research during your visit and a good example of this is the Bundesarchiv, because they do not allow you to copy the material yourself. You have to have copies made through a service company called Selke, so you may not get the copies of the material for a few days after your visit.

You need to know how the library/archive works before you set off so that you can make the maximum use of your time there. Research time is expensive. You will have to put aside a day for your research, travel to the archive, use the search materials to find your documents, get the information out of the documents and then go home and process your material so that you can use it. You can fail at any one of those points and waste your day and money. Forgot your passport or driving license? Then that is a day wasted both in terms of time and money, and we have all done it.

For me to visit the British Library or the Library of the School of Slavonic Studies, (the SSEES Library is a ten minute walk from the British Library,) requires a train journey (£30) plus parking (£7), money for lunch and coffees (£20) and entry fee for the SSEES Library (£7) as both are within walking distance from St Pancras station. That’s a total of £64 a day, for a visit to The National Archive, I would have to get an earlier train to be there by opening time at 10am (say an additional £15) plus the Tube journey (£15). I would allow £100 a day and then to visit a more distant library such as the Bodleian Library in Oxford or the Russian Military Studies Library which requires a drive and an overnight stay, you might be looking at £200 a day in the library/archive. Travel abroad to visit the Bundesarchiv for an extended study period and you will be looking at an even higher cost per day. So given that research is so expensive, it makes sense to plan your time and research technique well, once you have identified which archive you are going to use so that you are not caught out.

Planning your visit

Over the years I have evolved techniques and equipment to get round the restrictions for most of the libraries/archives that I visit which uses a tablet as my key research tool. The tablet allows me to search for the material before my visit, to book the date of my visit, order the materials I will need and record this information to use during my visit by storing the data in Zotero. During my visit it will act as my catalogue and I will make notes on the materials in OneNote. If I need to copy a page from a book, a document other material, I can use the tablet camera, in the way described, so that I get clean, clear images every time. I have a methodical work plan, in which I collect the material from the archivist, skim read it to find the information that I need and then photograph the information. Any notes taken are only for very short entries that are not worth photographing, or any side issues that I uncover which can be dealt with on another trip. In my view, research time is too expensive and limited to allow me to sit there in the old fashioned way making hand written notes into the classic A5 moleskin notebook in pencil. However it is more focussed and directed than other researchers that I know of, who go into archives, order a folder and just photograph the entire thing. They come home with one to two thousand images from a day's work, while I will have a few hundred. The important thing is to have a plan and to stick with it, making a note of any side issues to deal with later on. It is doubtful if you will be able to order another document during this days visit, so it is worth recording it properly and dealing with it on a subsequent trip.

Arming yourself for your visit

You need to be aware of what material you will be dealing with during your visit. Is it a book, a map, a journal, electronic journal, e-book, index card file, microfiche, microfilm, a bound volume of papers or just a folder with loose sheets of paper. What language is it written in or is it in short hand, C18th secretary's script or other palaeographic script? Whatever is in the archive, you need to have a strategy to deal with it before you arrive, either using the archive's own equipment, (ie. printing from microfiche using a microfiche scanner,) or your own equipment if you are allowed it. The mix may not work, in one archive that I visited, all they had was an ancient microfiche reader with no printer, so I had to photograph the screen to record the documents. Problem is that microfiche screens are slightly skewed and so you can only get a clear focus on with the top or bottom half of the sheet, which required two photographs for each sheet with a focus adjustment in between each shot. A nightmare with a click and point camera. Here is some of the 'equipment that I might take into libraries/archives: my Microsoft Go table and charger, bag of change for photocopiers/scanners, credit card for topping up my online copying account, data stick to record images from library/archive equipment, USB:USB-C converter to get data into my tablet, compact camera, spare micro-SSD cards and batteries to last all day, Perspex platen, foldable book stand, Passport, driving license and student identity card, clear plastic bag (no bags allowed in archives), notebook, pencil (for when everything goes wrong) and my Cyrillic handwriting cheat sheet. As far as possible, I will try and cut all of this down to just some change and the tablet with charger, but will certainly have the rest in the car for emergencies or to catch up the following day.

At the archive

So you finally made it, you have prepared yourself, travelled to the archive or library, got through the registration process, got your access card and are finally seated with a pile of documents in front of you. Your equipment is to hand and you are prepared for dealing with all the technical problems of extracting the information from the document. Well done. Reward yourself with a Danish at coffee break.

Inevitably, it will not go to plan as the archive has provided you with microfiche versions of the documents rather than the originals or whatever the issue is. Do not worry the archivist is there to help you work round these issues and although you may have to work around some bureaucratic hurdles, you should get there in the end. If you cannot, then just work with what you have in front of you and make the best of a bad job. It is important to remember that archives, as institutions, are not the easiest places in the world to navigate and it may take time to build relationships and trust that may allow you to jump those hurdles on another visit.

Likewise remember that you are on a schedule, divide the work up into timed tasks and keep on track. You also have to work efficiently, so record your work as you go along, as this will save you time and effort later. For instance always photograph the front cover or title page of a book as a marker for each series of photographs. Likewise if you are shooting all the verso pages first and then the recto pages, use the title page to divide up the two series to make recombining them easier later on. Keeping good records is as important as the information itself. Finally take a pencil and notebook with you in your bag, so that if all else fails, you can take some notes down in the old fashioned way.

Following your visit

When you get home, you will have some notes marked up with their relevant citations (either in a paper notebook or in OneNote or even in Zotero,) and a lot of photographs, ideally divided up into groups by title pages. Using image cataloguing software such as Trophy to sort you stream of images into groups of individual documents or image-document handling software such as Abbyy FineReader 15 so that you can combine images or recombine verso/recto page scanning and turn them into a PDF. Recording and filing this material is an important element of the work so that you can find your material again and ultimately when it is archived it can be used by other scholars coming after you. See here for an excellent free course on the subject at the Institute for Historical Research (https://www.history.ac.uk/study-training/research-training/data-preservation-free-course)

When you come to produce a journal article or book from this material, questions might arise during the editing process, months or even years afterwards, that means that you will have to re-read the material so proper filing and storage is key.

Using more difficult archives

Other archives may not be so forgiving as The National Archives, either through lack of funding or through their history. The Bundesarchiv at Freiburg and Berlin, would fall into this category since many Prussian/German records were destroyed at the end of the Second World War, as were the catalogues. So the documents that you might be searching for may not exist and if they do exist, you may not be able to find them without going through dozens of boxes.

Of course, there are many smaller archives like the Russian Military Studies Centre, (the former Soviet Studies Research Centre, which was set up by Peter Vigor at RMA Sandhurst,) regimental museums, societies, provincial towns and organisations. These are unlikely to have full electronic catalogues and may rely on card indexes or printed catalogues in books, or the memory of the archivist. There are a number of ways that you can circumvent this lack of an online catalogue but ultimately you are going to have to visit these archives and do the digging yourself.

By contrast, some countries such as the Russian Federation have gone to great lengths to put large amounts of their archives online. Once you have consulted finding aids to understand the structure of these archives (see University of Reading guide to Russian archives,) you then have access to a whole wealth of material from websites such as Pamyat Naroda “Memory of the Poeple” (6.5 million documents) to Soviet Documents the Federal Archive Agency, archive portals with finding aids.

If your chosen archive has a full electronic catalogue on a website, your task is easy to browse through it and establish what you can achieve on your visit to the archive. You may be even luckier and be able to order scans of the documents that you need to be sent to your home without the need for a visit. But what if your interest is only covered by a small provincial archive with only a card index?

A starting point is to go to your secondary sources and look through their bibliographies to see what they have managed to find in your archive, it can at least give you an idea of what is actually there. A second approach would be to contact the archivists with your request and see if they are able to help you and give advice. Another approach is to contact the various groups and forums of other researchers that work in your subject area and draw on their experience, finding aids and possibly even documents. Finally you may be lucky to find a research company that covers your archive and could go in and do some paid work for you. An initial scouting mission would cost nothing like the costs of your own visit and might provide some definite information of what may be found there. There also remains the possibility that the same information exists in another archive, since copies of documents often end up spread around various, different archives.

A research example

I can give an example of the multiplicity of techniques used to find documents in one search that I did for the German Army manual H.Dv. 90. The manual is in two parts, a general section and a secret annexe (geheime) and the obvious place to start this search was the Bundesarchiv in Germany. However using the Bundesarchiv can be problematic because many of the original documents were destroyed during the final days of the war, their catalogues lost and the files scattered across multiple locations. What records remained were gathered up by both the Western Allies and the Soviets and taken off to their own countries. The Americans and British made copies on microfiche and returned the originals to West Germany, however those captured by the Soviets remained until quite recently in Moscow and it has only been in the last few years, that some documents have been made available by the DEUTSCH-RUSSISCHES PROJEKT ZUR DIGITALISIERUNG DEUTSCHER DOKUMENTE IN ARCHIVEN DER RUSSISCHEN FÖDERATION [German-Russian project for digitalising German documents in the archives of the Russian Federation].

So I started my search using the Bundesarchiv electronic catalogue 'Avenio' and as luck would have it found several copies of the general section which I was able to order online to be scanned and send as a CD-ROM to my home. No sign of the secret annexe. But that is not unusual, large parts of their collection remain uncatalogued or only at the most basic level. An earlier search that I did for railway records had found two large collections created during the 1950s by researchers going round and collecting private stashes of documents from former railway officials. Known as the Kreidler and Sammler collections, these are totally uncatalogued, but Herr Kreidler wrote several books which provided pointers to the collection structure and with some help from Bundesarchiv staff, I was able to order the relevant documents.

My next step to find the secret annexe was to look through the NARA (National Archives USA,) catalogues of microfilm records. You can get these online at NARA. If you can find your material through these catalogues you can order a roll of microfilm with the records on it.

But that is an expensive way of doing it since each roll contains thousands of records. Alternatively you can pay a researcher from a company such as Westmoreland Research (you can find others here https://archivalresearchers.org/about/) to go and photograph the actual documents you need which will certainly be cheaper than buying an entire fiche roll. Westmoreland are working at NARA every day for clients, so adding these small jobs is not expensive. Sending a researcher into an archive just to carry out just ‘your’ work is going to be more expensive, but many archives carry lists of people who work there regularly and could be used. For the British The National Archives they have this information about researchers. The Bundesarchiv too has researchers such as http://www.michael-foedrowitz.de/indexEN.php or https://historikergenossenschaft.de/unsere-leistungen-im-ueberblick/recherchedienst/.

NARA is a really popular archive, used many enthusiasts and they have created some finding aids and share material. You can find these here at Sturmpanzer.com. So if you are lucky an enthusiast may already have the relevant roll you need for free.

Unfortunately for me, there was no sign of the H.Dv. 90g secret annexe at NARA either. So the next step was to search through online catalogues for German documents in Russia and across smaller libraries and archives across Germany. These started to yield results, with a Russian translation in an intelligence document of the manual which at least that gave me the text.

Later on I was looking at the Wüttemberg Landesbibliothek for something else, but as a matter of routine checked my list of 'missing' documents and up came the missing ‘geheime’ annexe. So I contacted the Landesbibliothek staff and arranged for the document to be scanned and copied and you can now see it on their website. That is the only copy I have found to date but there may be others out there, somewhere.

I hope that you have enjoyed this quick canter through some ideas about using archives, please leave a comment below, especially if you have some good practical suggestions about digital scholarship. I learnt about using tablets in archival research through Twitter conversations, so a lot of these ideas are quite new and not yet in mainstream usage.