Archival research can seem like a bureaucratic and static process, and it often is - you have to register as a user, lock your belongings away, and have only one folder and document out at a time. If you're searching online, very few repositories have their holdings digitized, and you have to request special digitization or online access to the materials. However, there are ways to make this a more dynamic and iterative process, and the best way to do that is to think about how you can engage with the documents you're viewing.

Primary sources are typically thought of as authoritative fact, but in reality they are open to interpretation. Archives are not neutral spaces. Creators and collectors alike are biased, and so the very archival collections you research are biased. You as the researcher have a lot of power and autonomy to interpret and synthesize the information you get from primary sources, and to make connections between documents, collections, and creators.

Exercise: View the image on the left. It's a digitized document from MS 592 John Vliet Lindsay papers collection. Examine the document, the associated metadata in the Digital Collection entry, as well as the finding aid. Then, review the list of research questions on the right to help you get started with a close examination. When you're done, think about how these questions help you engage with the document.