Tips for Successful Research
- Do background reading on your intended subject, noting significant names, dates, events, and any evidence that Federal records may be used for further research.
- Our web site contains answers to many of the preliminary research-related questions you might have.
- Write or call ahead so that you can properly plan your research visit.
- Remember that our archives are permanently valuable organizational records that may reflect the workings of all three branches of the Federal Government.
- Determine whether your topic can be searched in the National Archives and consider whether it falls within a Federal function or a specific entity of the Federal Government.
- When you determine that the Federal Government produced documentation concerning your research interest, keep the likely time period(s) in mind, and what physical form(s) that documentation might take.
- Remember that the Federal Government has almost no jurisdiction over state, local, or municipal activities, or over private enterprises, unless mandated by the Constitution. Therefore, we do not have discrete files of birth, marriage, divorce, death, or similar state and local level records.
- Because the National Archives and Records Administration is truly a national system of records repositories, ask us about relevant records that may exist beyond the Washington, DC, area in a regional records services facility or a Presidential library.
- During your research visit, keep good notes as to records consulted so that you can differentiate between multiple groups of records searched, and your steps can be retraced if necessary.
If you have questions, contact us. We are here to help you.
Read more about Getting Started with your research.
