By Josh Hicks, Class of 2012
Over the course of my research I learned more than I expected to. One of the most important things that I learned from this research project is the need to look in more than one place and in more than one way. The first is very self explanatory. For example, if the Dickinson Library does not have a certain source that you are looking for than go somewhere else. As far as the second is concerned, If I was looking for facts about the conditions of Andersonville then the obvious place to look is secondary sources. However, you cannot stop there you need to look in diaries or letters home. Even further you should look at newspapers in microfilm. So learning how to look in more than one place is key. On a side note, Microfilm, while tedious, can be made to be enjoyable. To be able to see what people in the 1860’s were seeing is rewaring. Another thing that I learned which may seem basic but is crucial is that you need to look at secondary sources BEFORE primary sources. Secondary sources should be something that influence or support a primary source. The importance of looking at a secondary sources first is that you need to be able to get a good feel on the background information before you go out and look for primary sources. If you do not do your background information carefully enough then you run into the problem of not knowing where to look or even what to look for. I ran into this problem when not knowing what to look for in microfilm. Finally, the last thing tht when doing research and recording it, you must make sure that you make the steps that you took clear. By doing this you allow other researchers to check your steps and perhaps more importantly they can use your steps to go further than you were able to and add on to your research. Even if you are unsuccessful in producing something from your research explain why. I ran into this problem at the Cumberland County Historical Society. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/hist-304pinsker/2011/03/05/research-blog-post-5-picture