For a Presenting Your ResultsProseminarpaper, it is usually a good idea to rely on published sources (or on sources recommended or provided by your lecturer). Working with sources which have to be viewed at an archive is a demanding and time-consuming activity, not least because knowledge of palaeography is often required (i.e. you must be able to read old scripts). Archival research is certainly not necessary (albeit absolutely doable) for a Proseminar paper, for which sources in source editions as well as other more readily accessible sources such as digital copies are usually used. Archival research makes more sense for a Seminar paper or, in particular, for a master’s thesis. Nevertheless, it is still a good idea to familiarise yourself with the demands of archival research from an early stage in your studies by attending one of the History Department’s regular introductory Übungen (tutorial courses) on archival research.

The most important question to consider when searching for sources is what types of sources might be available which are relevant to your topic. It may sound obvious, but you need to be aware, for example, that you will not find any photographs from before the second half of the nineteenth century. Private medieval writings, meanwhile, are highly unlikely to have made the journey into modern public archives. Some knowledge about the political institutions which existed during the time period which you are studying can provide clues as to which records may be available in the archives. Indeed, with some contextual knowledge (and an awareness of which types of sources could be relevant for your research question), it is possible to gauge what types of sources you could find. The different kinds of sources tend to become more varied as the period which you are investigating becomes more recent. Alongside the aforementioned “conventional” sources found in archives and source editions, a diverse range of other types of documents and material objects can also serve as sources, including literature, artwork, films, posters, postcards, etc. These are often held in special collections (at archives or other institutions).

Since archival sources are often difficult to access (not least because they usually demand a visit to an archive), numerous source edition projects have been established with the aim of making sources more readily accessible to historians.

When is it worth your while to search for a source edition? You are more likely to find one for sources written by well-known authors, for frequently consulted collections, for widely read manuscripts, or for certain types of source (e.g. legal documents). As a general rule, the further back in time which you venture in your research, the more published sources you are likely to find.

Conventional source editions in book form can be found in libraries (and, as such, in library catalogues). Footnotes in relevant secondary literature are usually another good place to find references to source editions. It can also be useful to search through the registers of major source edition projects. For some time now, there has also been an effort to digitise older source editions and to publish new editions directly in digital form. Digital source editions are especially helpful because they allow for the option of a full-text search. Online source databases also give you the option of searching for (printed and digitised) source editions.