I receive many lovely emails from wonderful readers and visitors, and I appreciate them all. One common theme that continues to come up in my email questions is how to “best” do historical research. There is no right or wrong way to “do research”, so do not get hung up on that! However, through my decade-plus of research, there are some things that make it much easier in the long run. I thought I would focus on web-based research, as that is what a lot of us are doing these days. These are my top five tips for web-based historical research!
If you are an established researcher, you have probably already discovered all of these tips. However, if you are newer to historical research, these might be very helpful. I will admit, I wish I had known these when I was starting my undergraduate history degree in the mid-2000s.
Always Save Text
Do not make the mistake of countless undergraduates- do not assume that a website or page will be there for you to return to. Save whatever text you need or want for the future, or that you have the slightest inkling that you might. Websites are edited, pages are removed, and entire sites are shut down. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will be able to visit the site again. And that seems to be doubly true for websites with hard-to-find information.
Record URL and Date Accessed
This is a habit from my academic research but is exceptionally helpful no matter how formal or informal your research is. Copy and paste the URL into a document- the full URL, not a truncated version. You will never know when you will need or want to return back to the site, and it is shocking how difficult it can be to navigate back.
Recording the date that you accessed the information can be helpful, as many sites and pages are updated periodically and there might be a change from when you visited. (You can’t always see the date published/updated, but more often than not you can.)
Pay Attention to Image Copyright
If you are truly only looking for research, you should be able to download and save images with no issue. However, I would still save the URL of the image itself and the site where you found it, and any copyright information for the future. It may turn out that you do want to use the image on your own website or published research, and you will need to contact the image copyright holder to obtain permission to use it. (You may need to pay a licensing fee to use it.)
Many people will completely ignore this, only to find themselves with cease-and-desist emails from a lawyer. Or worse, you may actually owe a significant amount of money. Even if it does not seem like you will use that image publicly at the moment, save the copyright information in case.
Use Print-to-PDF Function in Chrome
I personally prefer to copy and paste text into my own documents. However, many people find that to be cumbersome. And quite frankly, sometimes site formatting can make that incredibly difficult. In this case, I would turn to the Print-to-PDF function in Chrome. Using this will save a PDF of the full page. If there are a lot of ads/ banners/ widgets, it can be quite a bulky PDF, but you will have everything there.
I can’t speak to other browsers, but the Chrome PDF tool is very helpful. You can save the PDF anywhere on your computer (or on an external hard drive attached). I use a Chromebook personally, so I can save directly to my Google Drive. (I have several different Drive accounts- you do need to pay attention to where it is saving.) You can use this function on any operating system, though- you will just need to use Chrome as your browser.
Establish Your Electronic Filing System Early
Whether or not you are using Word or Google Docs to record your information, or you are saving PDFs or images, you will need an electronic filing system. There is no one “right” system; you will need to find out what works for you. Do not depend on a search function to find everything. Inevitably, your computer will not find something that you know for a fact is there. It happens.
Some people will file electronically by the type of source- ie. all clippings/images from the same newspaper together. Others will file by theme- ie. all items related to Queen Elizabeth II together. I do a combination of thematically and chronologically using subfolders to divide within theme by the date acquired.
You can change and modify your system when needed, but do this as early as possible. You do not want to have to go back through 1500+ saved sources that are in an electronic jumble.
BONUS: Do Not Take Everything At Face Value
This is true of all sources, web-based or otherwise- don’t take everything you read at face value. I know that I have made mistakes on my blog posts; I’ve even spotted errors in academic history books that have undergone several rigorous rounds of editing and proofreading. Mistakes happen, and in a lot of cases, the author never intended to make that mistake. (However, be aware- there are many people, especially on the internet, that specifically are out to mislead you with incorrect information.)
Fact-check anything you are intended to use in research. Be curious and question the things that seem a little too good to be true.
If you are an independent researcher, I’ve got my best tips on researching without institutional support here: https://anhistorianabouttown.com/the-best-tips-for-doing-independent-historical-research/.
What are your top tips for web-based historical research?
Cheers,
The Historian
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