Table of Contents

Overview

Research on historical objects, including their social and political contexts, can be challenging, particularly when you have limited accompanying information to start with or when the object is relatively obscure and has not been widely discussed in academic literature.

Use this guide if you are working on a research project that is based around the analysis of a historical object and are looking for primary or secondary sources related to its historical, social, or political context.  It will suggest helpful questions to ask at each stage of the object-driven research process, recommending resources and search strategies along the way.

First steps: interrogating the object

When starting off researching a historical object, you will likely only have relatively limited information available. For instance, some items in the May Weber collection might only have general information such as the country or culture of origin and type of object. 

Key Questions

Before beginning a search for information sources relating to this item, it is a good idea to start by considering what you already know about the object and what you want to learn.

One way to do this is to ask a series of questions about the item, including:

• Who made the object?
• When was the object made?
• Why was the object made?
• How was the object used?
• Who used the object?

If this information is not available in the accompanying description of the object, you may need to make educated guesses for some of these questions. 

Planning your search

Unless your object is unique and famous, it may be difficult to find discussions of the specific object you have chosen for this assignment, However, discussions of similar objects or related phenomenon will be useful in understanding your object. Sources that describe similar items (that is, from the same location, time period, and for the same use) will need to be used instead. For example, you might start searching for information about Mexican masks, including various types and their significance to Mexican culture. Searching museum catalogs and online collections is one technique that you can use to identify similar items. 

Some questions that can help steer your search for similar or related objects can be found below:

• What is your object made out of?
• How was it made? Was your object created by hand, or was it manufactured by machine?
• Does your object have a characteristic design or style?
• Is your object meant to be used for a specific purpose? Is it meant to be decorative?
• How does this object’s design relate to other objects from this time period?
• Does this object have any symbolic value? Does it include any representations?
• What characteristics of users can you infer based on the object and its description?

Getting background information

Depending on your level of familiarity, it can be helpful to refer to background reference sources, such as encyclopedias, to help familiarize you with key terms and concepts related to the historical object and its context. It can be useful to record key details and terms during this initial research stage so that they can be more easily used in later searches. For example, if you do a search for Mexican Masks in Gale Virtual Reference Library, an encyclopedia entry about Religious Folk Art from the Encyclopedia of Latino culture might provide useful information about the use of masks in a religious context. 

Finding primary sources

Depending on the needs of your research, you may need to find primary source materials related to the historical object you have chosen.

These primary sources might take the form of a similar object to the one that you have chosen, or it could include items such as letter, diaries, oral traditions, or artifacts, from the item’s historical time period describing the item or a related issue.

Places to start

Many museums offer online exhibits and databases about different textiles from various regions around the world. You can visit their websites to view images, annotations, and other information that can help jumpstart your research. Some links contains instructions for accessing the information you might need, so be sure to click the More link to view additional details. 

Finding secondary sources

In humanities research, secondary sources are works that interpret, describe, or evaluate primary sources. In addition, these works are typically created by individuals that are not personally connected to the time period or event from which the primary source originates. Some common types of secondary sources include journal articles, monographs, and textbooks. See the Books and Databases tabs for curated secondary sources to get you started. 

To find additional sources, search the library's catalog for books, articles, and special collections related to your item. If the library doesn't have a source that you need, you can request it via our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services. 

For more information

For additional information about conducting materials research, review the following book from Sage Research Methods: