Category Archives: Archival Research

Digital Mapping of Archival Materials

Posted on May 18, 2012 by briansandberg

One of the biggest challenges of historical and humanities research is locating relevant documentary evidence. For scholars working with archival documents, this often means searching inventories and catalogues of many different archives—sometimes across several countries or even continents. Archival inventories … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Digital Humanities, History in the Media, Humanities Education, Information Management | Leave a comment

Archivists, Historians, and the “Archival Divide”

Posted on January 12, 2012 by briansandberg

Archivists and historians sometimes seem to be operating across an “archival divide”, with differing understandings of documentary collections and highly divergent agendas for those collections. Historians who have worked in archives in foreign nations will be acutely aware of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Conferences, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Accounts of Haditha Massacre Salvaged

Posted on December 14, 2011 by briansandberg

The New York Times is claiming that one of its reporters has salvaged classified documents that were part of an internal United States military investigation of the 2005 Haditha Massacre, one of the pivotal events of the Iraq War. Photo … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Empires and Imperialism, History of Violence, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Manuscript Studies and Multispectral Imaging

Posted on December 8, 2011 by briansandberg

Manuscript studies are going hi-tech. Historical researchers working on manuscripts from the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods can now utilize sophisticated imaging instruments to reveal traces of ink and other materials that have faded and are no longer legible. … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, History of the Book | Leave a comment

Dissertation Travels and Archival Research

Posted on September 26, 2011 by briansandberg

Historians are used to traveling for research. Most graduate students and professors of history head to archives and specialized research libraries to consult manuscripts, rare books, and printed documents. Although a some important document collections have been digitized, the vast … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, European History, Graduate Work in History | Leave a comment

Historical Research and Human Subjects

Posted on August 27, 2011 by briansandberg

Academic researchers who work on human subjects are required to request authorization from boards that review research methods for potential ethical violations. The goal is to ensure that human subjects in research studies (especially medical experiments, drug trials, and psychological … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Archival Research, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Genealogist Challenges DAR

Posted on July 15, 2011 by briansandberg

Amateur genealogist Wayne Bates is challenging the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) over the rejection of his relative’s application for recognition of their ancestor as a veteran of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. Wayne Bates … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Comparative Revolutions | Leave a comment

Medieval Manuscript Stolen from Santiago de Compostela

Posted on July 7, 2011 by briansandberg

The Codex Calixtinus, a twelfth-century manuscript account of the transportation of Saint James’s body, was stolen from Santiago de Compostela this week. Someone broke into the cathedral archive’s safe and took the manuscript. The loss of the manuscript, which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, European History, History in the Media | Leave a comment

Manuscript Research at the BNF

Posted on June 28, 2011 by briansandberg

I recently returned from a short research trip to France, where I was conducting research on manuscript collections dating from the French Wars of Religion (1562-1629) held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) in Paris.  The manuscript collections are … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, French History, French Wars of Religion | Leave a comment

Robespierre’s Manuscripts for Sale

Posted on May 8, 2011 by briansandberg

A collection of Maximilien Robespierre’s manuscripts is being put up for sale by Sotheby’s France.  The collection apparently includes 150 pages of Robespierre’s writings that were in a dossier that has resurfaced over 200 years after the death of this … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, European History, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History in the Media | 1 Comment