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Chapter 3 Primary Sources CHAPTER 3 PRIMARY SOURCES CHAPTER 3 _____________________________________________________________________ PRIMARY SOURCES _____________________________________________________________________ The variety of historical evidence is nearly infinite. M. Bloch, The Historian’s Craft, (Manchester University Press, 1954), p.66. Rather than just relying on second-hand accounts of events historians consider that it is essential to use material contemporary to the events they are studying - primary material - to reconstruct the past for themselves. Primary sources are fundamental to history, but they are often fragmentary, ambiguous and difficult to analyse and interpret. Identifying, locating, accessing and understanding primary sources is much more complex than dealing with secondary sources. There are many different types of primary sources and diverse opinions exist among historians as to the validity and relative weight to be accorded to each of them. Some branches of history rely heavily on one or two types of source, while others are more eclectic in their approach. Debates arise as a result of different interpretations of the same primary sources, and are fuelled by the discovery of new evidence. Primary sources are open to multiple interpretations; you should not assume that any group of historians will agree about the meaning of historical evidence simply because they have all seen the same manuscripts or looked at the same set of photographs. This chapter provides an introduction to three important skills relating to the use of primary sources by historians; locating, assessing and linking primary sources. A fourth vital skill, the actual writing of historical accounts based on primary sources, is addressed in Chapter 7 of this book. LOCATING PRIMARY SOURCES _____________________________________________________________________ While it is relatively easy to locate and get hold of secondary sources through the use of library catalogues, electronic searches and Inter-Library Loans, there can be many more difficulties involved with primary sources. Some printed primary sources, especially more recent government and EU publications can be easily found in the University of Leicester Library. The Library also houses microfilm collections including copies of The Times, London Street directories and older official publications which may also be of use. In addition many primary sources such as the correspondence of significant individuals is available in printed form or on microfilm. Developments in electronic publishing promise to make more primary sources available on any networked computer but these developments are rather fragmentary at the moment. If, however, you choose a topic which requires the use of primary sources not available on site, you should be prepared to invest some effort in finding your material. The first step is to locate the repository which holds the material you are after. You then need to write, phone or email for more details and arrange a visit, ensuring that you prepare in advance so that you can work efficiently in the limited time you are likely to have available. Increasingly the availability of catalogues and finding aids on the WWW is making this easier, cutting down the time and effort __________ 25 _______________________________________________________Chapter 3 required for effective preparation. Once you have started to collect your information you need to reflect on how you will use it, and what other sources you still need to consult. It is worth remembering the advice that you should not go to an archive until you have a clear idea why you need to go there. Some archives are run on an informal basis, and you may find yourself working in a damp corner or in the same office as the person in charge. Others have a large staff of trained archivists and are run according to a strict standard procedure. An excellent website for anyone thinking of visiting an archive is ‘Using Archives: A Practical Guide for Researchers’ which is located at [http://www.archives.ca/index.html] - select ‘English’, then ‘publications’ to find the link. There are a number of different types of repository which contain primary sources. These include record offices, local studies collection, reference libraries, museums and collections of other materials such as sound recordings, films or photographs. The following sections are aimed at giving you a few starting points to find the repository where the information you require is located. LOCATING WRITTEN SOURCES: The most extensive guide to documentary archives and their holdings in Britain is the National Register of Archives (NRA). The NRA was set up in 1945 by The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. The register consists of more than 37,000 unpublished lists and catalogues of manuscript collections. They describe the holdings of local record offices, national and university libraries, specialist repositories, museums and other bodies in the United Kingdom and abroad. They also cover papers held privately by individuals, firms and institutions, and in such cases provide further information about the accessibility of the papers for research. Each list is given a reference number in the NRA numerical sequence and a descriptive title. These details are recorded on a computerised register, along with additional information, such as the location of the papers, enabling users to search the Register in a variety of ways. There are three computerised indexes to the Register, a Personal Index, a Business Index and a Subject Index. These can be searched at [http://www.hmc.gov.uk/nra/nra2.htm] The NRA, its indexes and an extensive collection of published guides and catalogues can be consulted in the Commission’s search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1HP. It is open Monday-Friday 9.30 am-5.00 pm. No written introduction or reader’s ticket is required. Copies of selected NRA lists and indexes are distributed to a network of copyright libraries, national repositories and regional centres of research where they may be consulted. Further details of these are available from the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts at the above address or Tel. 020 72421198 Email [email protected] The staff at the Commission have also produced a set of information sheets on sources for popular topics of historical research, e.g. women’s history and the history of the labour movement. These are available on the Internet at [http://www.hmc.gov.uk/nra/nra2.htm], select information resources. A new online resource, Access to Archives (A2), provides access to the catalogues of many record offices simultaneously, but its coverage is not comprehensive. __________ 26 _______________________________________________________Chapter 3 The Business Archives Council Business Archives Council, 101 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 7RE, provides help in tracing the records of industrial and commercial undertakings. It carries out surveys of business archives and offers guidance to companies and institutions on the management of their records. Its counterpart in Scotland, the Business Archives Council of Scotland, is based at Archives & Business Records Centre, University of Glasgow, 77-87 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6PW. Both organisations have websites which contain further information on their activities. The major repositories for official documents are the Public Record Office and local record offices. These will be discussed in Chapters 5 and 6 of this book. READING Foster, J. and Sheppard, J. British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom, (Macmillan, 1989). Ref: REF 026.942 FOS Gibson, J.S.W. Record Offices: How to Find Them, (Federation of Family History Societies, 1993). Ref: REF 929.3 GIB Guy, S. A Guide to Resources for Each County Including Libraries, Record Offices, Societies, Journals and Museums, (University of Exeter Press, 1992). Ref: REF 942 ENG Olney, R., Manuscript Sources for British History available at [http://ihr.sas.ac.uk/publications/pubnew.asc.html] Reynard, K. and Reynard, J.M.L. (eds.) The Aslib Directory of Information Sources in the UK, (Aslib, 1992). Ref: REF 026.0002542 ASL Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Record Repositories in Great Britain: A Geographical Directory, (HMSO, 1991). Ref: REF 026.942 ROY The Internet gateway for archivists and users of archives is ARCHON. It has an alphabetical listing of repositories and links to the homepages of those with websites [http://www.hmc.gov.uk/archon/archon.htm] LOCATING OTHER TYPES OF ARCHIVES: There are, of course, repositories which contain important non-documental historical sources. There is no central register of this type of archive, so here you will be introduced to a few major archives of non-written sources. The reading list at the end of this section contains guides which will help you locate other repositories of this nature. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive is the national repository for social science machine-readable data, including many historical data files. The Archive has recently established a History Data Unit, which it encourages researchers to exploit. You can access the ESRC Data Archive catalogue via the __________ 27 _______________________________________________________Chapter 3 WWW. For further information write to the ESRC Data Archive, University of Essex, Wivenhoe House, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ. The National Sound Archive (NSA), opened in 1955 and became a department of the British Library in 1983.
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