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How can you manage archival research costs while maintaining quality?

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Archival research can be a rewarding but expensive endeavor for library professionals. Whether you are conducting historical, genealogical, or cultural studies, you need to access and analyze primary sources that are often scattered, fragile, or inaccessible. How can you manage your archival research costs while maintaining quality? Here are some tips to help you plan, budget, and optimize your archival research projects.

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Mac Ice

Director of Special Collections and Archives | Associate Professor of Library Science

1 Define your research question and scope

Before you dive into the archives, you need to have a clear and focused research question and scope. This will help you narrow down your sources, avoid unnecessary expenses, and achieve your research goals. A good research question should be specific, relevant, original, and feasible. A good research scope should outline your main objectives, methods, criteria, and limitations. You can use tools like mind maps, outlines, or research proposals to help you define your research question and scope.

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2 Find and evaluate archival sources

Once you have your research question and scope, you need to find and evaluate archival sources that are relevant and reliable. You can use online catalogs, databases, guides, or directories to locate archival collections that match your topic, time period, location, or format. You can also contact archivists, librarians, or other researchers for advice or referrals. You should evaluate the archival sources based on their availability, accessibility, authenticity, quality, and usefulness. You should also check the policies, fees, and restrictions of the archival institutions that hold the sources.

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Mac Ice

Director of Special Collections and Archives | Associate Professor of Library Science
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While there is no substitute for chasing down footnotes, there are things a good archivist has come to know by virtue of their reference and cataloging work that you just cannot obtain otherwise. They can help triangulate among information resources, suggest new sources, and help generate leads. That said, they are not wizards and sometimes there are truly dead ends or archival materials just do not (or no longer) exist. All that to say, a phone call or zoom with an archivist might be the best time you invest in your process. Archivists who know their collections (and if the are diligent in cataloging/description and reference, then they will) will always be able to tell you nuances about them, beyond the catalog or finding aids

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3 Plan your visit or request

If you need to visit or request archival sources, you need to plan ahead and budget accordingly. You should consider the location, duration, and frequency of your visit or request, as well as the transportation, accommodation, and food costs. You should also factor in the fees for admission, copying, scanning, or shipping of the archival sources. You should make reservations, appointments, or orders in advance, and confirm the details with the archival institutions. You should also prepare the necessary equipment, materials, and documents for your visit or request.

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4 Optimize your data collection and analysis

When you access the archival sources, you need to optimize your data collection and analysis. You should follow the rules and etiquette of the archival institutions, and respect the rights and privacy of the creators and subjects of the sources. You should use efficient and ethical methods to record, organize, and store your data, such as taking notes, photos, or audio recordings, using labels, folders, or spreadsheets, and backing up your files on cloud or external drives. You should also use critical and creative skills to interpret, synthesize, and evaluate your data, such as comparing, contrasting, or contextualizing the sources.

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Mac Ice

Director of Special Collections and Archives | Associate Professor of Library Science
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My experience: I had limited time in an archival 18 hrs from my home. I leveraged the auto-sort feature baked into our phones. So, I spent all my time taking pics of possibly relevant records, then sorted them back home. I took pictures of the outside of the box, then folder label, then items in the folder. The pics autosorted in order, and I then created PDFs for each folder, naming the PDF with the folder label, and all folders for a box into another folder labeled with the box label. It was a digital surrogate and it was just like I was back in that reading room. Of over 1000 pics only a couple were blurry (I had limited time and had to move fast). I easily wrote my chapter and it still serves me very well to access info.

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5 Seek funding or collaboration opportunities

If you need more financial or human resources for your archival research, you can seek funding or collaboration opportunities. You can apply for grants, scholarships, or fellowships from various organizations that support archival research, such as academic institutions, professional associations, or foundations. You can also partner with other researchers, archivists, librarians, or community members who share your research interests, goals, or skills. You can benefit from their expertise, experience, or networks, and share your costs, responsibilities, or outcomes.

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6 Use online or digital archives

Another way to manage your archival research costs while maintaining quality is to use online or digital archives. Online or digital archives are collections of digitized or born-digital primary sources that are accessible via the internet or other platforms. They can save you time, money, and effort by allowing you to access and analyze archival sources from anywhere, anytime, and with any device. They can also offer you more features, functions, or formats than physical archives, such as search engines, metadata, annotations, or interactive media. However, you should also be aware of the limitations, challenges, or risks of online or digital archives, such as incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated data, technical issues, or security breaches.

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Mac Ice

Director of Special Collections and Archives | Associate Professor of Library Science
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I remember trying to find a day to drive downtown to the state archive (which was a rare treat between a growing family, a full time job, and part time grad school), spend all day in front of a microfilm reader browsing and hoping against hope to find something. Now I can access some of the same content through a paid database. Not free, not open access, yes, BUT compared to what I used to do, miles ahead in terms of precision and recall, searchability, saveability, even browsability. No more motion sickness for one. I have used it on every project I have worked on since, and found several things for my personal genealogical work. So, a commercial database, in this case, worked very well for me

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you manage archival research costs while maintaining quality?

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1 Define your research question and scope

2 Find and evaluate archival sources

3 Plan your visit or request

4 Optimize your data collection and analysis

5 Seek funding or collaboration opportunities

6 Use online or digital archives

7 Here’s what else to consider

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How can you manage archival research costs while maintaining quality?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your research question and scope

2 Find and evaluate archival sources

3 Plan your visit or request

4 Optimize your data collection and analysis

5 Seek funding or collaboration opportunities

6 Use online or digital archives

7 Here’s what else to consider

Library Services

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