Research skills in practice - Matthew Stephens
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History Extension Seminar: The Project, 2013 Research Skills in Practice
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Researching and writing history can be one of the most challenging, interesting and creative activities you will ever do. An understanding of the types of sources available, how to find them, and how to interpret them and the context in which others have used them are at the core of good historical research. In this session students will explore the different types of sources available and discuss how they can be used in the context of a real research project.
Transcript of Research skills in practice - Matthew Stephens
History Extension Seminar: The Project, 2013
Research Skills in Practice
Dr Matthew Stephens, Reference Librarian
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection,Sydney Living Museums
sydneylivingmuseums.com.au
Today’s Session
The session will be divided into two parts:
1. Discussion of key aspects of research 2. Case study: Rediscovering a lost
convict building
Two Key Factors
CreativityBeing originalChoosing your
sourcesWhich research
approach?
DisciplineReferencing &
BibliographiesChoosing your
sourcesApplying critical
thinkingBeing ethical
Key Aspects of Research
Being originalThink for yourselfWeigh up the results of your
research and say what you think
Key Aspects of Research
Locating Sources – some examples:OnlineIn a libraryIn an archiveAt a museumTalking to people
Key Aspects of Research
Some useful online sources:Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au/)
Key Aspects of Research
More useful online sources:State Library of NSW
(http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/)Manuscripts, Oral History &
Pictures (State Library of NSW) (http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/s/search.html?collection=slnsw)
Google books (http://books.google.com.au/)
Key Aspects of Research
Choosing your research approachA study of documentsA study using pictures A study of objectsA series of interviewsA combination of all the above and
more
Key Aspects of Research
Referencing & bibliographiesReferencing Because you are expected to refer to the
work of others in the course of your research, you are required to document where this material comes from.
A bibliography is a list of all works used to write an essay and appears at the end of the paper.
For more info google “ASLA Referencing Guide”.
Key Aspects of Research
In Summary:There is scope for being creative in
your research but this needs to be built on a foundation of methodological discipline.
There are many online sources available but it’s important to assess which are the most authoritative and trustworthy.
Case Study
Rediscovering a Lost Convict Building
Case StudyHyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney Living Museums
Photograph (c) Nicholas Watt, Historic Houses Trust of NSW
Case Study
Background:A kitchen garden is known to have existed
next to Hyde Park Barracks in the 1820s. The life of the garden was short-lived and
was abandoned by the end of the 1820s.There is evidence from plans of the site
that there was a small building in the garden.
Case Study
Research Question:What was the building in the garden
like and what was its function?What was its architectural form?What materials was it made from?How was it used?When was it demolished?
Case Study
Getting Started:What research approach shall we
take?What sources can we use and where
shall we find them?
Case Study
Research approach:Establish what is already known
Published material – books, newspapers, periodicals
Consider a combination of sources:DocumentaryPictorial
Case Study
Sources:Books, reports, periodicals, online documentsNewspapersMaps and plansArchivesPaintingsPhotographsAerial surveys
Possible information sources:Heritage reports about Cook + Phillip ParksHeritage Reports about the Australian Museum sitePlan of Hyde Park Allotments House of Lords Sessional Papers (Google Books)
Casey & Lowe Pty Ltd 2004, Sydney CityGrid Project: Non-Indigenous Archaeological Assessment for PlanCom Consulting Pty Ltd on behalf of Energy Australia, p. 35, viewed 4 November 2013, <http://www.ausgrid.com.au/Common/Network-projects/Network-projects/Sydney-CBD-and-East/Sydney-CityGridproject/~/media/Files/Network/Network%20Projects/Sydney%20CBD/SCGvol2AppE.ashx>.
Footnote: 23.Wendy Thorp. Heritage Assessment, Phillip and Cook Parks, Sydney. March 1997. p.13.
Newspapers
Maps, Plans & Aerial Views
Esquisse de la Ville de Sydney, 1823
Source: Louis de Freycinet, Voyage Autour du Monde … Atlas Historique par Mrs. Js. Argo, A. Pellion & Ca., Paris , 1825, pl. 94. Caroline Simpson Collection, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.
Detail: Jardin Potagér de la Caserne des Convicts
Plan of the Town and Suburbs of Sydney, 1822
Source: Mitchell Library M1 811.17/1822/1
Detail: Garden attached to Convict Barracks
Survey of Wooloomooloo and the Convict Garden, 1830
Butler, 1831, SG Map S.696, State Records of New South Wales. Reduced plan of SG Map S.696, 1830.
Detail Showing Gardener’s Lodge
Six Maps: http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/
Six Maps: http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/
Six Maps: http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/
Pictorial Evidence
From Select Views of Sydney, New South Wales. Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, SLM.
John Carmichael, Sydney from Woolloomooloo Hill, 1829
Fanny Macleay, View of Sydney when St Mary's was building, ca. 1830
State library of New South Wales. http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=844892
Frederick Garling, View of Sydney from Woolloomooloo, Looking West, 1839
Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales. http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=423603
Robert Russell, Sydney from Wooloomooloo, c1837
National Library of Australia. http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an2982901
Painting Details
An Unexpected Surprise!
Source: T.H. Braim, A History of New South Wales: From its Settlement to the Close of the Year 1844, London: R. Bentley, 1846, frontispiece, Vol. 2, Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, SLM.
Similar Examples?
An Important Discovery
Photograph c1880, Australian Museum Archives
Australian Museum Archives AMS512/5.
Detail of Gardener’s Lodge
How was the Building Used?
• In the 1840s the octagon was inhabited by a Constable Brown and his wife. The Browns’ idyllic view down a grassy slope towards Woolloomooloo Bay was obliterated by the construction of the Australian Museum in 1846, and the couple was evicted by the Museum trustees in 1850. The octagon was used by the museum as taxidermist’s workshop until 1865 when it was converted into a kitchen and wash house.
Sources: Sydney Morning Herald, 5 April 1845, p.3.
Various correspondence, Australian Museum Archives.
Research Question:
• What was the building in the garden like?– What was its architectural form?
• It was single storey, octagonal in shape with a central chimney.
– What materials was it made from?• Brick and stucco with a shingle roof.
– How was it used?• Police constable’s house; taxidermist’s workshop.
– When was it demolished?• Between c1880 and 1885.
Insites, Summer 10, Issue 62
