What is Historical Research?
Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research
Leaning Historical Research
Dr. William Cronon (University of Wisconsin, Madison), a renowned environmental historian, authored this site for his students in Environmental History. However, the principles, concepts, and methods outlined in this site cover all the basics of historical research in an Archives using primary sources.
Developing an Historical Question and Thesis
Dr. Robert Goodrich (Northern Michigan University) authored this review of the process historians follow to develop an historical question or problem that guides archival research n primary sources. It is one of the best summaries of the process I have encountered.
How to read and understand an Archives Collection Finding Aid
From the Central Upper Peninsula and NMU Archives, this site provides teachers with a basic overview of an archival finding aid and includes links to online tutorials.
Note-taking and Citation
Note-taking during historical research in an Archives must be done carefully and in an organized manner, if a researcher hopes to confidentially and efficiently retrieve and use recorded notes of interpretation and analysis of primary sources.
Basic Note-Taking and Citation
Also from William Cronon. This site covers all the basics, including traditional methods of note-taking using index cards.
How to Decipher Unfamiliar Handwriting
Deciphering old or poor handwriting is a skill that requires practice and an understanding of writing styles over time. Reading and transcribing such writing can represent a major obstacle to historical research, especially for young students. This site provides an excellent introduction to paleography, the skill of reading old or ancient handwriting.
Transkribus is a free and easy to use textual transcription program powered by AI. It does a remarkable job transcribing old and difficult to read handwriting. The program is not perfect and makes mistakes but it’s accuracy rate is astounding and likely will get better with time.