Q&A: How do I conduct historical research?

Your questions, answered by a historian with a Library Science PHD

Jan 15, 2024

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This month, we’re doing a Q&A on historical research:
Whatever your questions (evaluating sources, writing up findings, whatever else), please leave them below!

My love of libraries, and my love of history, both go back just about as far as my love of food. Looking at my career through the 2+ decades it’s evolved, it’s little surprise that I’ve ended up where I am now: I’ve always been a very interdisciplinary person, as a researcher and generally, and tend to find ways to roll as many of my passions into one thing as possible.

Researching the history of food is one such example: A pursuit that asks us to explore large lived contexts alongside small, yet critical details. And one that asks us to imagine other ways of being, of thinking, and of moving through the world based on those contexts. But whatever technologies, social structures, and food systems may impact our lives, there are also constants to the human experience too.

Imagination fuel

Part of why I love studying history is the vitality in doing so: Historical research offers rich soil for my imagination to really grow, and has resulted in many (many!) hours of daydreaming as I imagine what it would be like to (for example) experience the influence of the proliferation of printed paper on my daily life.
How would my experience of walking down the street change, as printed advertisements become easier to produce en masse and thus easier to post up everywhere? How would my own reading habits change (taking into account all the other contexts that influence literacy and access to books: social class, gender, etc. etc. etc.)? What would this do to my understanding of the world and how I move within it?

These research-driven daydreams aren’t flights of fancy: They help me understand my subject more deeply, and to imagine contexts and connections I may have missed. And the best part? The longer I do historical research, the richer my daydreams become.

My life as a historian

Many of you are probably familiar with my historical research, but for new readers, here’s a bit of background, which might help spark some of your own history writing and research questions.
I’ve been doing historical research and/or caring for historic materials for over a decade. In my work in libraries and museums, I’ve cared for everything from Civil War diaries smuggled into Andersonville, to collections of Quaker archival materials about the Underground Railroad in Iowa, to cuneiform tablets, to cookbooks from the 1600s.

As a researcher, I’ve studied everything from the institutional and social history of libraries in the US (my MA and PhD topics), to various aspects of the history of food, from Early Modern English cookery books to the history of fermentation.

I’ve also studied book history quite extensively, which is fascinating and well worth your time if it’s not something you’ve studied before. I’m happy to share some of my favorite resources if you’re curious!

One thing I love about a consistent practice of historical study is that it encourages me to think through the long lens of lifetimes beyond my own: I tend to look at our decisions as a collective (for better or worse) at least partially through the lens of our past experiences in similar situations.

Studying history means meeting interesting characters you would have loved to know during their lifetimes, learning about places you would have loved to visit or food you’d love to try. As a food historian (though this isn’t unique to food history) I also notice the ways place comes into play: shaping lives, foods, and culture, which sometimes move beyond that place to then shape and be shaped by somewhere else (the history of hot peppers comes to mind here).

I’ve recently spoken with many people who are embarking on (or continuing) historical or history-adjacent projects, or are just wanting to increase their knowledge of how to find sources or just understand history as a subject.

So, I’m opening up a Q&A here to answer your questions!

The Q&A

Please note I study social history and food history, primarily, and like all other mere mortals I’m not a subject matter expert on every historical topic. BUT, there are underlying best practices that are broadly applicable, and between those and my experience in libraries I hope I can get you the answers you need, or at least point you in a direction!

Here are a few suggestions to spark your curiosity and questions:

Where do I start when researching the history of a certain ingredient/dish/food tradition?
How about the history of the book or of information use and sharing: How does this fit into other historical studies, how does it impact your topic?
How do I pick a research focus?
Where do I find sources?
What’s the difference between a primary and secondary source?
What contexts should I consider around my topic (and are they different for different types of research projects?)
What resources and programs are there for studying the history of food?