Digital or In-Person

Ruins of a stone house

In an age where we can access so many historical documents with a few keystrokes, is there still value in traveling great distances to visit a dusty archive or a research location?

The Digital Revolution in Historical Research

In recent years many of the resources we seek for historical research have been digitised and these are often freely available online. Every day, more documents are digitised contributing to a vast digital library. So, what are the pros and cons of virtual research versus in-person research.

The Convenience of Virtual Research

1.      Accessibility: Research can be done from the comfort of your home, in your pyjamas, if that's your preference.

2.      Flexibility: You can conduct research anywhere, at any time, fitting it around your schedule.

3.      Cost-effective: There are no travel expenses, which can be substantial for distant archives/locations.

4.      Time-efficient: No need to spend hours or days traveling to physical locations.

5.      Digital organization: It can be relatively easy to organize and store digital assets. (As long as you are organised of course.)

The Benefits of In-Person Research

1.      Access to countless documents that have not been digitised.

2.      The opportunity to consult with experts such as librarians and archivists.

3.      Tactile experiences of handling actual documents.

4.      Travel to locations can help to visualise stories setting more vividly.

My Experiences

I have had some wonderful experiences visiting archives and locations where my stories are set.  

The tactile experience of handling an historical document is not to be missed. I wrote about the thrill of  holding old family documents here. I actually held documents that had been in my ancestors hands over 100 years ago.

Walking the streets of Castlemaine and seeing the 19th century buildings, then traveling out to Moonlight Flats made the setting for my current Work In Progress come alive. Imagine our delight and surprise when we came across what might have been the ruins of the stone home that my 3x Great Grandparents built together. I can’t know for sure that it was the same stone cottage, of course, but it is in the correct location, and it is wonderful to imagine that it actually might have been. See the photo of the ruins above.

In conclusion, my preference is very much using a mix of both digital and in-person research.

Have you ever had a surprising or unexpected experience when doing historical research? I would love to hear your stories.