The Historical Approach to Research

The process of learning and understanding the background and growth of a chosen
field of study or profession can offer insight into organizational culture, current
trends, and future possibilities. The historical method of research applies to all fields
of study because it encompasses their: origins, growth, theories, personalities, crisis,
etc. Bothquantitative and qualitative variables can be used in the collection of historical
information. Once the decision is made to conduct historical research, there are steps
that should be followed to achieve a reliable result. Charles Busha and Stephen Harter
detail six steps for conducting historical research (91):

1. the recognition of a historical problem or the identification of a need for certain

historical knowledge.
2. the gathering of as much relevant information about the problem or topic as
possible.
3. if appropriate, the forming of hypothesis that tentatively explain relationships
between historical factors.
4. The rigorous collection and organization of evidence, and the verification of the
authenticity and veracity of information and its sources.
5. The selection, organization, and analysis of the most pertinent collected
evidence, and the drawing of conclusions; and
6. the recording of conclusions in a meaningful narrative.

In the field of library and information science, there are a vast array of topics that
may be considered for conducting historical research. For example, a researcher may
chose to answer questions about the development of school, academic or public
libraries, the rise of technology and the benefits/ problems it brings, the development
of preservation methods, famous personalities in the field, library statistics, or
geographical demographics and how they effect library distribution. Harter and Busha
define library history as the systematic recounting of past events pertaining to the
establishment, maintenance, and utilization of systematically arranged collections of
recorded information or knowledge.A biography of a person who has in some way
affected the development of libraries, library science, or librarianship is also
considered to be library history. (93)

There are a variety of places to obtain historical information. Primary Sources

are the most sought after in historical research. Primary resources are first hand
accounts of information. Finding and assessing primary historical data is an exercise
in detective work. It involves logic, intuition, persistence, and common sense
(Tuchman, Gaye in Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry, 252). Some examples of
primary documents are: personal diaries, eyewitness accounts of events, and oral
histories. Secondary sources of information are records or accounts prepared by
someone other than the person, or persons, who participated in or observed an event.
Secondary resources can be very useful in giving a researcher a grasp on a subject and
may provided extensive bibliographic information for delving further into a research
topic.

In any type of historical research, there are issues to consider. Harter and Busha
list three principles to consider when conducting historical research (99-100):

1. Consider the slant or biases of the information you are working with and the
ones possessed by the historians themselves.
a. This is particularly true of qualitative research. Consider an example
provided by Gaye Tuchman:

Let us assume that womens letters and diaries are pertinent to ones research question
and that one can locate pertinent examples. One cannot simply read them.one must
read enough examples to infer the norms of what could be written and how it could be
expressed. For instance, in the early nineteenth century, some (primarily female)
schoolteachers instructed girls in journal writing and read their journals to do so. How
would such instruction have influenced the journals kept by these girls as adults?it
is useful to view the nineteenth-century journal writer as an informant. Just as one
tries to understand how a contemporary informant speaks from specific social
location, so too one would want to establish the social location of the historical
figure. One might ask of these and other diaries: What is the characteristic of middle-
class female diary writers? What is the characteristic of this informant? How should
one view what this informant writes?

b. Quantitative facts may also be biased in the types of statistical data

collected or in how that information was interpreted by the researcher.

2. There are many factors that can contribute to historical episodes.

3. Evidence should not be examined from a singular point of view.

The resources that follow this brief introduction to the historical method in
research provide resources for further in-depth explanations about this research
method in various fields of study, and abstracts of studies conducted using this
method.

Sources Cited:
1. Busha, Charles and Stephen P. Harter. Research Methods in Librarianship:
techniques and Interpretations. Academic Press: New York, NY, 1980.

2. Denzin, Norman K. and Yvonna S. Lincoln (editors). Strategies of Qualitative

Inquiry. Sage Publications: London, 1998.

3. Leming, Michael R. Research And Sampling Designs: Techniques For Evaluating

Hypotheses. Found at: http://www.stolaf.edu/people/leming/soc371res/research.html,

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Links:
Studies:

http://www.ucr.edu/methods/
Historical Methods reaches an international audience of historians and other
social scientists concerned with historical problems. It explores
interdisciplinary approaches to new data sources, new approaches to older
questions and material, and practical discussions of computer and statistical
methodology, data collection, and sampling procedures. In addition to its long-
time interest in quantitative approaches to historical questions, Historical
Methods also emphasizes a variety of other issues, such as methods for
interpreting visual information and the rhetoric of social scientific history.
This website gives bibliographic information and abstracts to historical
research included in the journals. Currently the most recent journal entries are
from 1998.
http://bubl.ac.uk/journals/lis/kn/lac/v32n0297.htm
Mexican Library History: A Survey of the Literature of the Last Fifteen Years
by Rosa Maria Fernandez de Zamora page 227-244. Abstract : there is a need
for historical studies of libraries in Mexico, which has a rich library
background. This article deals specifically with the historical research carried
out during the last fifteen years by two Mexican institutions which has resulted
in a number of works both comprehensive and profound. The contributions
made by libraries to Mexican culture are highlighted, and the need for further
research is discussed.

Further Information about Historical Research:

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/leming/soc371res/research.html
Research and Sampling Designs: Techniques For Evaluating Hypotheses
Michael R. Leming, Professor of Sociology
 http://www.msstate.edu/listarchives/afrigeneas/199708/msg00048.html
Subject: Special issue of Prologue, on African American Historical Research
http://www2.wku.edu/library/dlps/histindx.htm
A list of library sources (at western Kentucky University) for beginning
historical research. Possibly a useful sampling of resources to get you started.
http://www2.wku.edu/library/dlps/histindx.htm
NARA homepage
http://www.cortland.edu/www/history/research.html
Historical Research on the Internet. An extensive list of historical resources in
all formats.
http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/hum/hist-us/libs.htm
United States History Libraries and Archives
http://www.spertus.edu/library-history/
The Library History Roundtable
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~lbruce/linklink.html
Traditionally, library history has been encouraged by a variety of sources:
graduate library schools, library associations, libraries, interested organizations,
and individuals. These international efforts to preserve, collect, organize, and
produce historical information about libraries now are being extended to the
Internet. As well, linkages with other groups are being developed to study the
broader social, cultural, and intellectual roles libraries have assumed, especially
within a print culture. A variety of library history papers are now appearing
across the Internet. The following discussions about the writing of history for
libraries are particularly relevant

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