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Research in history involves developing an understanding of the past through the examination and interpretation of evidence. Evidence may exist in the form of texts, physical remains of historic sites, recorded data, pictures, maps, artifacts, and so on. The historian's job is to find evidence, analyze its content and biases, corroborate it with other evidence, and use the evidence to develop an interpretation of past events that has some importance for the present. Historians use libraries to:
- locate primary sources (firsthand information like diaries, letters, and original documents) for evidence,
- find secondary sources, historians' interpretations and analyses of historical evidence, and
- verify factual material as inconsistencies arise.
Doing historical research is a little like excavating
an archaeological site. It requires patience, insight, and imagination
as well as diligence and the right tools. As you find and examine primary
sources, you need to imagine them in their original context and understand
how your present-day point of view may distort your interpretation of
them. You need to recognize not only your own biases but the biases that
shaped primary materials in their own period. You need to brush away the
layers of interpretation that time has imposed on them and imaginatively
re-create the complexities of the environment in which they were created.
Students doing historical research should be prepared to:
- survey historians' interpretations of the past while recognizing how their purposes or backgrounds might influence their interpretations,
- understand the context in which primary sources were generated, and
- identify conflicting evidence and locate factual and interpretive information that can help resolve or illuminate those differences.
Use the menu at top right to choose between information on Finding Sources or Documenting Sources within this discipline.
