Historians, how are you continuing to research primary sources during the pandemic with travel restrictions and the closure of archives?

by its-never-twins

I'm looking for any advice as my WIP seems indefinitely shelved now... I'm not sure if my university's interlibrary loan system will cover microfilm from the Kew archives. Does anyone have any tips?

caffarelli

Hello, I'm an archivist in the US. We are probably opening up our (smaller) archives to researchers in August, one researcher at a time, appointment only.

Are these a set of circulating microfilm? Generally that's not a big deal for ILL to get in, though these are almost always limited to in-building use only, which is the real problem, as libraries may be uncomfortable or unable to make a microfilm reader open and useable. Also, unless you are extremely cool, you probably don't have an at-home microfilm reader. But in-person ILL circulation is just starting to run again, as some libraries reopen to limited circulation.

The short story - you need to contact your ILL and work with them closely to see when you can start your research up again.