Methods and Sources for Historical Research | October 2024

Bookings will close on 18 October 2024.

Original research on primary sources lies at the heart of the historian’s enterprise, yet the techniques necessary to locate and obtain archival materials are rarely taught and can be hard to acquire.  This course aims to equip historical researchers with the skills they will need to find and gain access to all the primary source materials they need for their projects. 

The course is primarily aimed at those engaged in research degrees in history or kindred disciplines, but is open to all researchers wishing to expand their skills and knowledge in original source materials.

Over the course of a week (Mon-Fri), participants will learn, through an intensive programme of lectures and visits to repositories in and around London, how to combine online tools and traditional archival search techniques to locate and obtain evidence. 

Institutions visited will include:

• A number of other major national repositories
  
• A wide range of smaller and more specialised archives 

The first day of the course is spent in the IHR: a series of lectures will first explore the epistemological and hermeneutic status of primary evidence for historians before turning to a detailed explanation of the legal and institutional structures of record-keeping and museology in the UK and the rest of the world. On a practical level, the various printed and electronic aids to finding and accessing primary materials will be introduced and students will be shown how to combine these to retrieve all the sources pertinent to a given line of research quickly, efficiently and comprehensively.

After the first day, the rest of the week is devoted to a programme of visits to archives, libraries and repositories around London. In each case there will be a short formal presentation introducing the collections, finding aids and material of particular use, followed by a more informal opportunity for students to explore and to discuss their needs in detail with the archivists. 

The schedule of visits has been designed both to introduce participants to all of the principal national repositories (the British Library, the National Archives, the Parliamentary Archives et al.), but also, by including smaller and more specialised institutions, to reflect the range and diversity of archives likely to be encountered in a research career. 

Reflecting the material available in London, the focus is mainly upon British, Irish and imperial history and on the period after 1500, but those with research interests lying outside those boundaries will also gain from the course and applications are welcome.

The exact composition of the institutions visited varies on each occasion that Methods and Sources runs: the large national bodies are always included, but the smaller specialised institutions are rotated to give a distinct flavour to each course. 

More information is available on the IHR website.

Fees

• Standard:£625
• Concession (student/unwaged): £500

In order to provide an interactive, dynamic short course experience the IHR requires a minimum number of delegates to run the short course.
If a course is cancelled due to low enrolment, delegates will be offered the option of a refund or a transfer on to a different date. 

Please note that this course will be taking place in-person only, and that the number of places available is limited.